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Comment by Willy on May 11, 2015 at 10:35pm

You had me going there X. Funny

Below is what I was referring to:

Comment by XLFD on May 11, 2015 at 8:47pm

Are you sure this happens in forest fires, Willy?  To my understanding, most wilderness areas don't have enough electrical outlets in them to support this many fans, and you'd need a lot of fans for some of those conflagrations that cover many acres.

All kidding aside, learning about fire science was probably the most interesting thing in firefighting training, and part of that learning was about ventilating structures with high-powered fans.   Many fires can be controlled effectively with fans.  Even in this instance we notice the fire actually grows with the fans but it's not allowed to spread horizontally, all the fire heads up.  Once the fuel/combustibles are used up the fire will die.

It would of course be of little use (other than protecting exposures/nearby property) for a fire department to circle a house fire with a lot of high powered fans pointed obliquely, as the house in the middle would be a total loss in the process.  But positioning one at an entrance and having a window or door open opposite of it is an effective way of clearing smoke and possibly preventing fire spread.

Comment by Willy on May 11, 2015 at 5:58pm

My understanding is that this happens quite often in forest fires. I wonder what they were using for fuel. That's a lot of fire from such a tiny container. Check out the other videos at the end of this one.