Related topic - media often shows the biggest flames of the day, over and over. I’ve been guilty of assuming things about the behavior of fires I’m covering based soley on a few seconds of footage that were the spiciest thing the fire did all day. Thinking of an exchange I had on here with @HighLonesome, from LMU, after I over-reacted to some footage of the Dixie Fire ripping next to Highway 395 out near the old Eagle Fire burnover site, and questioned why they were putting firefighters in harm’s way in a place we knew was dangerous.
Their tactics were based on what he saw out there, across the entire shift, vs the scary 10-15 seconds I saw on Facebook. FB and other socials often play things back, days later, and people watching it think the fire is still ripping, even it it’s out. Mainstream media does the same thing, often playing intense footage from the initial burning period days later, as they report, breathlessly, ‘the fire is only 30% contained’ (it’s actually done spreading)…
Nice post on Eagle Fire, BTW, @wfapdude!
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