Thread by @wildland_zko

It's been two years since the #campfire burned here in Butte County. This thread is a narrative about the fire with satellite images I created of the fire at the peak of it's rampage, and aerial photos we flew. This image shows the long-range spotting which spread the fire. 1/x

The fire started in the Feather River Canyon, near Pulga, and raced up Flea Valley Creek. Once the fire reached the rim of the Canyon, it rained embers all over the Concow Basin. It raced thru heavy fuels in the Concow area, which still had tall dead brush from fires in 2008. 2/x

By the time the leapt across the West Branch Feather River, it was nearly 5 miles wide. Every bright yellow dot in this image is a burning structure. This view looks North. Fire spread from right to left. 3/x #WUI #planning #paradiseca

This image looks south. It shows that by 10:45am, fire was compromising all of the major roads out of town. Thousands of people are trapped by the fire at the time this image is taken. The Town is currently rebuilding with no major changes to the transportation network. 4/x

This image looks up the Skyway, the major route in and out of the Town. Minimal planning preceded the roadbuilding and subdivision of the Ridge in the 20th century. Many of the minor roads are privately owned. Topography makes building any new major access roads impossible. 5/x

Immediately after the fire, temperatures were freezing, days short, and winds minimal. Many of the areas outside of the initial direct westward push burned with mixed severity, and had beneficial fire effects on the vegetation. 6/x

However, the extreme winds, coupled with heavy fuel loading and drought, brought very high severity fire to many of the areas directly in the path of the fire. This area burned in the initial run of the fire out of the Feather River Canyon. 7/x

Radiant heat from burning structures increased tree mortality in the urbanized areas. 8/x

Thanks to Dylan Miller and Own Bettis for taking the aerial photos in this thread, and to Butte County Public Works and @Cal_OES for supporting oour watershed assessment work (@DeerCreekGIS) following the fire. More aerials and discussion here: tiny.cc/ax13tz 9/x