When Wildfire Comes Podcast

09/02/2026

What would the extent of destruction in Silicon Valley be in its urban communities if a major wildfire were spread rapidly from the heavily forested Santa Cruz Mountains into Palo Alto and surrounding cities under extreme wind conditions? Stay tuned for our first results from new ELMFIRE model simulations of such an urban conflagration in the hypothetical “Portola Valley Fire”, whose predicted burn boundary and ignition location is shown in the map figure below (blue shades indicate urban structure density). We are open to all feedback and questions about how this simulation is being designed and executed. Contact: [email protected]

09/01/2026

A new episode is available in the podcast series "When Wildfire Comes" on the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in 2022 with journalist Theresa Davis. Podcast link: https://open.spotify.com/show/4EueVmOXP5vN8yX0kJKlv0
The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire stands as the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of New Mexico. The fire burned 341,470 acres between early April and late June in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains when the U.S. Forest Service lost control of a prescribed burn. The Calf Canyon Fire began on April 9 when an improperly extinguished Forest Service pile burn from January rekindled. Theresa Davis, then a reporter for the Albuquerque Journal, gives a behind-the-scenes account of the impact of this accidental conflagration that destroyed 900 structures and countless livelihoods of ranchers in New Mexico.

Aerial views of the wildfire can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy05VFm3KG0

Podcast · Christopher Potter, PhD · Hello, my name is Dr. Christopher Potter and I am a wildfire scientist with over 30 years of experience working for NASA, and with local communities impacted by wildland fires. I have studied wildfire on the urban interface using satellite imagery and ground mea...

09/01/2026

The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire stands as the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of New Mexico. The fire burned 341,470 acres between early April and late June in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains when the U.S. Forest Service lost control of a prescribed burn. The Calf...

08/14/2026

New Podcast has been posted - California’s First Gigafire: 2020 August Complex Fire. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/when-wildfire-comes/id1847478997
This episode is in-depth analysis of the August Complex Fire, which was the most massive fire incident that started in August 2020 during the unprecedented lightning wildfire season. It has officially become the largest wildfire in California's modern history and is frequently described in slang as the state's first "gigafire" because it burned over one million acres of land, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The fire burned through timberlands in three national forests – the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers, until it was contained in early November 2020. Over 930 rural community structures were destroyed and one firefighter was killed in the line of duty. Listeners should go to the page album at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122141579763079001&type=3 to follow along with the presentation slides. Recorded comments from firefighters who were on the ground in 2020 trying to control the August Complex fires can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI9ikgLJ2II

Firefighters on the West Coast of the United States are worried tha...

08/05/2026

https://deadline.com/2026/08/edison-tower-caused-eaton-fire-final-report-altadena-1237017576/

An out-of-service SoCal Edison transmission tower sparked the deadly January 2025 Eaton Fire north of Los Angeles, according to the final report.

08/04/2026

New Podcast has been posted - California’s First Gigafire: 2020 August Complex Fire. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/when-wildfire-comes/id1847478997
This episode is in-depth analysis of the August Complex Fire, which was the most massive fire incident that started in August 2020 during the unprecedented lightning wildfire season. It has officially become the largest wildfire in California's modern history and is frequently described in slang as the state's first "gigafire" because it burned over one million acres of land, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The fire burned through timberlands in three national forests – the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers, until it was contained in early November 2020. Over 930 rural community structures were destroyed and one firefighter was killed in the line of duty. Listeners should go to the page album at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122141579763079001&type=3 to follow along with the presentation slides. Recorded comments from firefighters who were on the ground in 2020 trying to control the August Complex fires can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI9ikgLJ2II

08/03/2026

New Podcast has been posted - California’s First Gigafire: 2020 August Complex Fire. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/when-wildfire-comes/id1847478997
This episode is in-depth analysis of the August Complex Fire, which was the most massive fire incident that started in August 2020 during the unprecedented lightning wildfire season. It has officially become the largest wildfire in California's modern history and is frequently described in slang as the state's first "gigafire" because it burned over one million acres of land, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The fire burned through timberlands in three national forests – the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers, until it was contained in early November 2020. Over 930 rural community structures were destroyed and one firefighter was killed in the line of duty. Listeners should go to the page album at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122141579763079001&type=3 to follow along with the presentation slides. Recorded comments from firefighters who were on the ground in 2020 trying to control the August Complex fires can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI9ikgLJ2II

Firefighters on the West Coast of the United States are worried tha...

08/03/2026

This episode is in-depth analysis of the August Complex Fire, which was the most massive fire incident that started in August 2020 during the unprecedented lightning wildfire season. It has officially become the largest wildfire in California's modern history and is frequently described in slang as....

08/02/2026

07/28/2026

The lesson we are learning again in Europe this summer is that, under these kind of extreme heat and dry conditions, even a seemingly minor accident can start an uncontrollable firestorm with its own thunder and lightning. According to French authorities, this summer's blazes in the Gironde region were primarily ignited by acts of human negligence, including discarded cigarette butts, outdoor barbecues, and construction work conducted without proper safety precautions. The images in this clip are remarkable and unprecedented in France's modern history... https://abcnews.com/International/major-wildfire-france-stabilized-contained-interior-minister/story?id=135123975

Firefighters have stabilized a major wildfire in France as nearby fires in Spain force evacuations.