How to stop a wind-driven wildfire

You can't. Well, with current technology and conventional firefighting equipment, under certain conditions, you just can't stop a wind-driven wildfire.

Looking north toward Antelope Valley over the burned landscape south of Walker, spring 2006.

Even without wind, some fires are hard to stop. Several years ago I was on a structure protection strike team on the Cannon Fire in Walker (Mono County). I rode in the fire truck's open-air seat in the chilly early morning air during the drive up Hwy 395 from Lee Vining to Walker. The fire was coming into town from the west--downslope--and we went up the canyon where most of the houses are--along Western Drive. We looked at the houses, deciding which ones looked possible to save. Where could we place ourselves in a position of relative safety? Then we waited.