Most people severely underestimate the speed of fire and overestimate the speed at which they can respond. Even if a fire looks tiny, you have a very narrow window of opportunity to react before the fire spreads beyond your ability to control.

The same applies to fire in the home - if you can't put it out right now with whatever comes to hand, you've probably lost your window of opportunity to fight the fire. If your sofa or curtains catch fire, there simply isn't time to fill a bucket or fetch a hose. If you don't have an extinguisher to hand and can't snuff out the flames with a blanket, you need to run.

https://youtu.be/w4W82HIzUcc?t=78

I was amazed how quickly all the riders reacted and also recognized it wasn’t going to be easy to get out - “we’re not going to stop that with camelbacks”!

I once broke into a restaurant and put out a fire which would have gone critical before the firefighters arrived. Towels and dishrags. By the time they did, it was out. Likewise once when my car caught fire in the engine room. Buckets of water from the cleaner in the adjacent supermarket.

You often do stand a chance if you keep your wits, assess the situation, and act sensibly without any delay. I know everything is easy from my armchair, but can't help noticing how in the grassfire video nobody seems to be doing anything worthwhile while the thing is still manageable. In that kind of dry grass, jackets should have come off and smothered the fire within the first seconds, no panic and no danger.