I was recently gifted the book “Firefighting in the Blitz – Fire Service Memories” by Aylmer Firebrace, who was fire chief of the London Fire Brigade at the beginning of World War II. During this time, London and its surrounding cities, war production factories and harbors were under frequent attack by German air bombers.
These attacks took place virtually every evening from 1940 to 1944 and targeted both population centers and the industrial capacity of Great Britain using a combination of high explosive and incendiary bombs. The indiscriminate attacks on populated neighborhoods and government office buildings resulted in massive fires and countless victims.
The fires spread rapidly due to direct fire impingement of close dwellings and buildings, massive radiant heat, blowing embers and the lack of available water due to destroyed water mains.
From these attacks, the fire service learned several new tactics, many of which continue to be taught and used by many fire departments today, such as the use of large diameter hose (LDH) and relay pumping from a known water source to the scene of the fire.
The use of LDH started as an experiment utilizing large metal tubes that were extended in sections and hand-laid from a known water source to the scene of the fire. This was helpful when combatting blazes in rural areas, after bombers conducting night raids mistakenly dropped explosives onto smaller towns or farmland, where lakes or ponds were the only water source available. This early use of relay pumping helped refine the use of LDH and brought the concept of Stortz fittings to the U.S.
As these fires grew, especially in urban areas, their intensity created their own winds within the fire area, sucking the available air into the blaze which allowed it to further expand and strengthen.
Using historic tactics on modern blazes with a dash of technology
The self-generating wind and the resulting ferocity of the London fires is similar to how the continuous Santa Ana winds are exacerbating the Los Angeles area wildfires that ignited on Jan. 7 and increasing their severity.
Fortunately, today crews have several new tools and tactics at our disposal, including the use of air tankers to drop retardants and water, established fire breaks and continuous communications for command and control of these assorted firefighting assets. While the London Brigade had some AM radio capability, it was far short of the ability to track virtually every firefighter on the scene as we have today.
Where we have the advantage of communications, our disadvantage in California is the topography of the land involved in these major fires. Most of the Pacific Palisade area in and around Los Angeles sits in in canyons with winding, very narrow access roads – some with only one way in or out.
My wife and I, along with two of our teenage grandchildren, spent several weeks at a bed-and-breakfast in the Pacific Palisades area in 2023. Many of our conversations centered on the limited access and curvy, narrow roads leading from the Pacific Coast Highway into the hills, and the daunting task firefighters would have to try to control any fast-moving ground fires.
2 ways to rebuild Los Angeles with the wildfire potential in mind
While it’s easy to play the Monday morning quarterback, the fires this year that burned out entire neighborhoods offer an opportunity for communities to “build back better.” As residents and city officials of the destroyed neighborhoods make plans to rebuild, there are several preventative measures that should be considered for inclusion, in addition to more robust water systems.
1. Create fire breaks. In addition to more robust water systems, I would suggest city planners include fire breaks in the form of wide access pathways along the urban/wildland interface, wide and strong enough to not only act as a barrier to an impending wildfire, but to give access for firefighting apparatus and bulldozers in an emergency.
2. Use fire-resistive housing materials
The use of fire-resistive housing materials, such as asphalt shingles or metal roofs, along with thinning the growth of vegetation yearly, would greatly aid in cutting the number of potential dwellings destroyed in any future wildfires.
We are watching fire service history unfold
As efforts to contain and extinguish these fires continue, we extend our thanks to our brothers and sister firefighters who are capably handling this prolonged firefight. We should also remember the victims who lost their lives and pray for the families displaced by this unprecedented urban destruction. We may have just witnessed a fire destroying the largest single area of our country since the Peshtigo Wisconsin Forest Fire of 1871.
Stay safe.
