Until a guy has seen a wildfire, he is likely to think that men can do anything to stop it.

We had a wildfire here in 1999. Flames over 200 feet high, with the fire approaching 40 MPH as it raced across the prairie. That was with the fire burning short prairie grass. Thinking what it would be like in evergreen forests like northern Canada, at this time of year simply boggles my mind. Our fire jumped the Missouri River, so I agree with you that a quickly built fire break less than a half mile wide is very, very, highly unlikely to stop it.

The fire started in the early afternoon and ran along the brush along the river until about 10 PM. A hot shot fire crew that is dispatched to fires throughout the country is based here and was sent to fight the fire. After all was said and done, I talked to one of the crew and congratulated him on stopping the fire where they did. He was brutally honest with me and said they had nothing to do with stopping it where they did. He said the wind died down and only then were they able to contain it.