There were 60+ mph winds in the fire zone. The fire literally moved faster than many could drive their cars on the roads there. In addition apparently the winds changed direction radically and quickly causing the expected path the for fire to be entirely wrong meaning there was virtually no warning in the new direction.
So in other words, I wouldn’t blame the victims in this case.
well, i wasn’t blaming the victims; that’d be just plain goofy ... just trying to find out how so many people could be killed in a fire like this
Re-read my post. Nobody’s blaming the victims. You described precisely the condition that makes the “stay and defend” policy such a bad one. Even the pros, with years of experience sometimes take a bad position. Civilians with only a minimum of training, no fire behavior experience, no awareness of the importance of maintaining an escape route, and the incentive of saving their home can become victims in an eye-blink.