Page 23 - Fire Behavior News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Northern california has now grown to be the second large nest in the state's history. currently the largest fire burning anywhere in the u.s. and it is now just 21% contained. the fire tore through greenville, california, destroying 75% of that historic town. it's one of more than 100 large active fires currently burning across 15 mostly western states. get this. more than 2 million acres have already burned. >> we're seeing truly frightening fire behavior. we have a lot of veteran firefighters who have served for 20, 30 years and have never seen behavior like this. >> for more, let's bring in...

Of the state's seven biggest fires ever, six have occurred in the last year. >> we're seeing truly frightening fire behavior. we really are in uncharted territory around some of these extreme large fires. >> reporter: it's also leaving behind a trail of misery. >> we'll be okay. they'll get new toys and everything. but it's just memories. >> reporter: and tonight, more towns threatened and new evacuations. >> the fire goes over kitty ridge, then we will leave. >> reporter: if all signs point to it's coming here, you're ready to get out of here? >> right, if we see flames, we're gone. >> report...

That -- you know, this is range country. juniper, pine, mixed conifer, mixed forest. they've had months to dry out and cure. wood burns hotter when it's dry. so when the fire gets started in those conditions, there's simply a tremendous amount of energy that gets released from the fire. so the wind is driving the fire, intensifying that fire behavior, and as that column reaches up into the sky, it creates the pyrocumulus cloud that we've seen repeated days on this fire. then that system starts to pull more wind into the fire, which gives more oxygen to the fire. it pushes on the fire, and esse...

He runs one of the top fire labs at san jose state university. his team measures plant moisture. >> in april we thought oh, this looks really bad and then may, still looking bad. june, oh, this is looking really bad and now in july it's the low of the we've measured. >> the difference between a fire that runs through moist vegetation like this and fire that runs through dry vegetation like this is the difference between a fire that the department might put out and one that might destroy a neighborhood. just beyond this dry fuel new houses are going in right where they can burn. >> knowing what...

Then the bootleg fire in oregon threatening the electrical supply to california. that is because of a linkage that forms sort of a central nervous system of infrastructure up and down the west coast. it begins in oregon and runs all the way down toward southern california. it's called the california/oregon interchange. it is a sort of interdependent arrangement. it is absolutely under threat by fire at the moment. when you listen to officials describe the kind of flames they're seeing, it's pretty disturbing. >> the difference here is the super drought. so fire is doing erratic behavior and re...