Fire photographer streams Fairview wildfire containment efforts in California

While there’s seemingly a never-ending reservoir from which people find new streaming content, one photographer in California has found a unique one. 564 Fire, a fire photographer that frequently covers California wildfires, streamed his coverage of the Fairview wildfire last night. 

Originating outside of Hemet, California, which is located just under 100 miles east of Los Angeles, the Fairview wildfire is currently 2,400 acres in size and has already caused thousands of evacuations. Seemingly finding the fire in a somewhat quiet moment, 564 Fire gets right up to the edge of the flames.

With so many wildfires afflicting various parts of California and the west coast of the United States as a whole, it can be difficult to understand exactly how these fires get so large and seemingly out of control. 564’s video shows the sheer size of the fires these firefighters must deal with, in addition to dry conditions and high winds that can quickly whip up a fire and cause it to spread to nearby brush.

As 564 noted in the stream, the firefighters that were working while he was at the Fairview fire were mostly working on protecting a bridge and surrounding structures that were close to the fire, while firefighters elsewhere were looking for ways to rescue homes. Firefighters also used hoses to wet down the edges of the fire in their location, but sparingly, as there was no fire hydrant remotely close to their area.

The battle against the Fairview fire is still mostly uphill in these early stages, as it remains “unpredictable,” according to a Cal Fire spokesperson, and could still grow to a size of 7,000 acres before firefighters can fully contain it. 

Streaming the firefights in itself is fascinating, as viewers got a glimpse of the limited water supply that firefighters have to use, while still others attack open flames with shovels and dirt, trying to bury and contain the flames from the brushfire as much as possible.