Eric, as a volunteer firefighter (many years ago), I have to tell you that most people do not realize how hot 'field or brush fires' are and fires in forests are worse. Animals run from them in panic for a good reason. The temperature, at the edge of the fire, is several hundred degrees - I can not remember the exact figure (over 1,000 deg F?) but I can tell you that I had my eyebrows singed working the perimeter of a small field fire. This is why you see firemen wearing plexiglass shields on their helmets.
When you have a fire as big as this one, a sudden wind shift can, and has trapped firefighters - there, literally, is no place to run -
These guys were the best - May they have Eternal Peace!