They used to cut fire breaks and do controlled burns but they stopped doing that because it was harmful to the environment. Like an uncontrolled wildfire is good for the environment. There is nothing worse for the environment than an environmentalist.
They also allowed grazing that cut down on all the undergrowth that fuels fires. Between that, dead trees, and overgrowth it’s created the perfect storm.
Being stewards of the earth does NOT mean standing around doing nothing.
That's really essential but even that wouldn't work unless controlled burns are done at a much larger scale. California's normal fires before settlement averaged about 4 million acres a season. Now we are at 600k for this year and only 1.4 for last year. We are way below what should be burning, normally, never mind a dry year right after a wet and average year. It is a setup for bad consequences when the fires get out of control.
I’ve heard that the American Indian use to do controlled fires.
They quit doing controlled burns because the rich people up on snob hill complained that the smoke ruined their view of the valley below and the sunset. Great, how do you like your entire area code looking like it was nuked?!
These fires will burn until November if the firefighters get their way. Putting them out too fast means shutting off the overtime pay, can’t have that. There’s no shortage of them that go out and start fires to keep that overtime pay coming. Being treated like a hero when you come home with enough money to buy a new truck in cash is pretty nice.