It’s been a summer of record-breaking heat and extreme drought across much of the West. Already this year, more than 43,000 wildfires have burned more than 8.2 million acres. That’s about 50 percent more than the average acreage burned in the last decade.
Right now, there are more than 1,200 firefighters working to contain the Valley Fire in Lake County. But, how exactly do you stop a wildfire that has scorched more than 60,000 acres?
From helitack crews and smokejumpers, to the sawyer and swamper, this video — by the folks at Earth Fix — explains the complexity of fighting wildfires.