This is 99% invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

Over the past few days, Californians have watched as the car wildfire has raged through the northern part of the state.

The fire started a little more than a week ago.

Fueled by dry brush, high temperatures, and strong shifting winds.

The fire has moved from a national recreation area into the nearby city of Redding.

As of this recording, six people have died, 19 people are reported missing, and thousands have evacuated.

The fire is only 20% contained.

Wildland fires aren't new in California, but with climate change, our fire seasons are becoming longer, and fires are becoming bigger and harder to fight.

So for the next two weeks, we're going to look at the issue of wildfire, some design solutions, and just how complicated they can be to implement.

The Santa Ana Wins of Southern California are sometimes called the Devil Wins.

They pick up in the late summer and early fall, sweeping down from the mountains and across the coast.

They're hot, dry, and known for creating dangerous fire conditions.

In late November of 1980, as the Santa Ana's blew in, it had up to 90 miles an hour.

An unknown arsonist lit a fire near Panorama Point in the San Bernardino Mountains.

That's reporter Stephanie Joyce.

Pushed by the wind, the fire grew and quickly spread down the mountain towards the city of San Bernardino.

This is the city's then fire chief, talking to a reporter.

Again, we had extremely strong winds, our humidity was somewhere about 10.

Another local fire chief said they called in all available resources, and still, it wasn't enough. There was no stopping the fire.

All the conditions were just right, and for what we commonly refer to as a firestorm.

In just a few hours, the Panorama fire destroyed hundreds of homes and killed four people.

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