Unseen Impact Unseen Impact

Inside California Wildfires: What Firefighters Know That You Don’t

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Wildfires are no longer a seasonal threat—they’re a year-round reality in California.

In this episode of Unseen Impact, we sit down with Cal Fire Captain Robert Johnson to break down what most people don’t understand about modern wildfires: how fast they move, how embers can travel miles ahead of the flames, and why defensible space and home hardening can mean the difference between losing your home—or saving it.

We also discuss:

  • Why California’s fire season never really ends

  • How firefighters predict fire behavior using weather and fuel data

  • What homeowners can do right now to reduce wildfire risk

  • Evacuation warnings vs. evacuation orders (and why timing matters)

  • The simple mistakes that cause homes to ignite hours after a fire passes

This conversation connects historical wildfire tragedies, like the Mann Gulch Fire, to the modern tools, technology, and preparation strategies used today—and what residents can learn from them.

Whether you live in a high-fire-risk area or just want to understand how wildfires impact real people, this episode offers critical insight that could save lives.

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Resources:

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents

https://web.pulsepoint.org/

https://protect.genasys.com/search

https://www.alertsandiego.org/

Some of the notable moments from this episode are: 

00:00 – A Wildfire That Changed Everything

01:50 – Why This Story Still Matters

03:05 – Meet a Cal Fire Captain

09:51 – Fire Season Is Now Year-Round

14:26 – What Makes Fires Explode

18:11 – The #1 Way to Protect Your Home

22:56 – How Homes Burn Without Flames Nearby

30:24 – Why Firefighters Can’t Save Every House

33:14 – Evacuations: What Most People Get Wrong

36:16 – The App That Could Save Your Life

39:41 – Inside Fire Command Decisions

50:13 – Why Homes Ignite Hours Later

52:56 – Home Hardening That Actually Works

56:52 – Final Fire Safety Takeaways

 

#CaliforniaWildfires #CalFire #WildfireSafety #FireSeason #FirePrevention #DefensibleSpace #HomeHardening #EmergencyPreparedness #EvacuationPlanning #PublicSafety #UnseenImpact

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Unseen Impact is a podcast that looks beyond legal headlines to explore how personal injury truly af 
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