Originally Posted by
invisiblehand
I am no wild fire expert, but my understanding is that the severity of this year's wild fires is due to US policy regarding fighting all forest fires without the understanding that small fires are part of the natural cycle.
That's the lesson from the big Yellowstone fire in the 80s, but I don't think it played much of a role in southern CA fires. On hot and ultra dry days, Santa Ana winds can drive fires toward the west very quickly, even through areas that completely burned just a few years earlier.