it may be next to impossible. one official from the u.s. forest service told this to the "new york times," quote, you can save particular areas or particular homes, but the fire is pretty much going to do what it's going to do until the weather shifts. joining me now from south lake tahoe, california, nbc's jacob ward. jacob, that was really sobering when i read it today. it just shows you in a situation like to you have a fire that is so scary, so destructiving tell us what's going on and how it compares to fires we've seen there in the past. >> well, chris, the fire fighting efforts that have been honed here in california over the decades are entirely based on the assistance that the topography gives firefighters. you can rely typically on the geography of this state to help you in some ways and hurt new some ways travel. additionally something like the vale you see beyond me here is a help to firefighters this kind of geography can stop a fire,