Cripes - thought they learned their lesson 32 years ago with the Yellowstone fires of 1988. From The Mercury News:
California fires: State, feds agree to thin millions of acres of forests
The two dozen major fires burning across Northern California were sparked by more than 12,000 lightning strikes, a freak weather occurrence that turned what had been a relatively mild fire season into a devastating catastrophe.
Yet what’s driving these enormous fires is not sparks, but millions of acres of fuel: bone-dry trees and brush that haven’t burned in many years.
Before the Gold Rush in 1849, large parts of California burned every few decades. Lightning fires burned for months, and native tribes burned the land, clearing out dead vegetation. But for much of the past century, as the state’s population has built homes, towns and parks in rural areas, firefighters have extinguished the flames to save property and lives, allowing forests and other landscapes to become unnaturally dense.
As a result, fires now burn hotter and with more intensity.
“We have put out fires for 100 years. Now we are paying the price,” said Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley. “It will take a while to make these forests healthy again. But it’s absolutely possible.”
Duhhhh... The policy of putting out all fires was recognized as being counter productive when Yellowstone National Park went up in one big fireball thirty two years ago. It is taking California this long to realize the error of their ways?
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