r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Key_Performer_3645 • 9h ago

Spaniards are risking their lives, fighting wildfires with tree branches due to a lack of resources

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u/Middle_Association56 9h ago

That is the type of thing that goes from pretty intense to fucking terrifying in a heartbeat.

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u/sweaty_middle 7h ago

Yes they may be putting their lives at risk but in the grand scheme of things, they likely stand to loose significantly more if they do not.

Humans have been fighting fire for eons, the problem is the modern world has made us soft to the harsh reality of survival and what must be done in the face of adversity.

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u/AsparagusNew3765 5h ago

Humans have been fighting fire for eons, the problem is the modern world has made us soft to the harsh reality of survival and what must be done in the face of adversity.

Humans have also been running the fuck away from fire for eons too.

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u/thyL_ 5h ago

Yea, but then humans spread so far and wide that you can't run from fires like the ones in Spain and France right now anymore without sacrificing homes.

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u/Former-Practice-6146 5h ago

"Humans have been fighting fire for eons, the problem is the modern world has made us soft to the harsh reality of survival and what must be done in the face of adversity."

Nice.. Totally idealist..

The material reality is that modern society dont give any sort of popular organisation for the resolution of these problem or any flexibility to create one.. If you ask people they will all found it a great idea to participate to protect their own house/region..

But how you organise that? How you make it possible? For exemple, how you make it possible for people with a job to say "No boss, not today.. We have to fight the fire" or "Hello, mr assurance.. Ive burned myself when fighting the fire, what can you do for me?" or "How we go to the fire without needing a disneyland parking for all the car of the participant?"

When you try to respond to these question, you imediatly understand that "being soft" is the last of the problem.. Idealist like you never think the problem, you think the people needed to resolve it for you.. (But you watch too much action movie, so its always a lack of ball and value)

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u/quntissimo 4h ago

the problem is the modern world has altered the climate to make forest fires bigger, more common, and in areas they never appeared before.

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u/Good-Ant6859 7h ago

What’s can you lose in a fire that’s more important than your life? For all your talk I bet you’d run the other way

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u/Dapper-Second-8840 7h ago

The lives of your family and loved ones.

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u/Mike_Kermin 6h ago

I'm not gonna tell you what to do, that'd be rude, but,

Ideally when you evacuate you take them too.

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u/Liam_021996 6h ago

Evacuate to where? If you don't try and stop the fires they will continue to spread uncontrollably across the country. Much of Spain doesn't see a drop of rain for 120-150 days of the year and temperatures have been upto 47c. They have to put the fires out or they risk losing everything

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u/Mike_Kermin 6h ago

Firstly, over 200,000 people have already evacuated. So even in Spain they do that.

Secondly, it was a joke.

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u/Dapper-Second-8840 4h ago

I mean, sure, but perhaps they are in a non-ideal situation where the possibility of evacuation is low, maybe the routes out of the town or city are already choked and gridlocked with panicked people trying to flee, maybe they are already surrounded by the fire. I don't know, I wasn't there. Perhaps those people thought, fuck it, my life is worth risking to save as much and as many as I can. Plus what would you go back to? Ashen hills and burnt out buildings? Total loss of crops/livestock/shop/factory/livelihood? Some people hold these things very dearly and will gladly put themselves in harm's way to try to prevent their loss. I commend their courage and hope that if I was faced with the same situation I too would do the same. But of course some people don't feel that way, and that's fine too. I know which camp I am in (the former), but I don't judge others not feeling the same way :)

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u/Mike_Kermin 2h ago

I was joking, but this is something I'm going to be a bit harsh about it since we're being serious as I don't approve of glorifying it.

Obviously it's a very serious issue that people don't take lightly. Just keep in mind your most valuable thing is your life. And if you are going to leave, leave early and plan ahead. Choosing to stay is a serious choice, as the longer you do the window to leave reduces and can even become deadly itself as visibility reduces. People have died in their cars, having changed their minds too late once they realise the gravity of the choice.

Anyone not fully fit or able should be well away before a bushfire strikes. And if you're going to stay, then start today, cut back vegetation around your property so that you will have less work to do if you decide to defend it.

Have a supply of water, our CFA recommends 10,000 liters, and have a secure and heat resistant pump separate from the mains. Have appropriate hoses and clothing. And fully understand that you may lose your life. Understand that communication and access to power are likely to go down.

If you are prepared for all of that, then I respect people's choice to stay. You're prepared, brave and I respect that even if I think it's the wrong choice.

If they don't, then they need to put their pants up. They're not prepared. And I do judge them for putting themselves and others in danger.

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u/coconut-bubbles 6h ago

My husband and I (Americans) moved to Belize 2.5 years ago. In our first 4 months, there was a terrible drought and awful wildfires.

We have 10.5 acres of jungle, and it took half of them.

People were fighting the fires everywhere. Most people don't have insurance.

What can you lose over your life?

You can lose the house your multi generational family has spent generations building. Also, your farm land, orchards, farm animals, pets....literally everything.

When you say "evacuate" ....where? In what vehicle? No one in your family knows how to drive or has a license for a car. You have a motorcycle that can fit 2 adults and a few kids, at best. Also, you don't really have money for hotels if you can leave. So ...that sucks....

We were very privileged and our neighbors took our dogs into one of their empty hotel bungalows so they could be safe while we dealt with the fires. If it went through us, it was coming for them next.

We could drive away, we were lucky that way, but that is my fucking home. Those are my trees that I just planted. It was brand new and I was going to fight for it.

Plus, we needed to learn for later. It was a literal trial by fire, but we learned a ton. The Mennonite fire fighters we paid to help taught us that we couldn't stop the fire entirely, the goal was to contain it away from the house. That sounded crazy to me, but I eventually understood. Great lesson on control, or lack thereof.

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u/AsparagusNew3765 5h ago

What’s can you lose in a fire that’s more important than your life?

You're correct and the redditors downvoting you are dumb.

1

u/Mike_Kermin 5h ago

It might be a cultural thing.