Why jumping into water to escape a wildfire should be a last resort

Crystal Kolden, a professor of fire science at the University of California at Merced, said people often imagine wildfires travel in a “wall of flame,” and once the fire sweeps past you, you’re relatively safe.

Wildfires, like the one in Maui, do travel fast, but smaller fires can “hopscotch” in front of the main inferno. Certain sources of fuel, like houses, burn for hours.

“You can’t outrun these fires,” Kolden said.