If the fire and the wind are coming from the same direction and, as per the article, we need to run perpendicular to the fire, why not run and cross the fire area, probably 15 or 20 m wide?

Even the brief moment of putting out a candle with two fingers hurts. If you try and cross even three meters of fire, your clothes, hair and skin will all burn. There is little or no oxygen to breathe, and no way of knowing where to go or how far. The ground is scorching hot, so it will be excruciatingly painful to walk or run. But all that pales in comparison to the worst pain: inhaling fire. If the smoke doesn't make you unconscious, the pain will make it impossible not to scream, and after a scream you need to inhale, but with no air around you, you inhale flames, burning your lungs, killing you in one of the worst pains imaginable. Please don't run through a fire.