California’s fires are not “natural” — humans made them worse - Vox

California’s fires are not “natural” — humans made them worse - Vox

• We fuel them. We build next to them. We ignite them.

"Even before Southern California began its frantic fight against six major fires that have been raging through dry shrubland this week, 2017 was in the record books as the worst season ever for wildfires in California.
...Fires are more damaging because we keep building in harm’s way...
...Deliberate decisions and unintended consequences of urban development over decades have turned many parts of the state into a tinderbox.
This year’s blazes particularly stand out because of how close they are to suburbs and major cities.
...Californians are drawn to views of mountains, forests, and grasslands and are building ever closer to these features that often have a propensity to burn.
Building in or near fire-prone forests has also led to fire prevention land management practices that paradoxically increase fire risk. 
For instance, policies for preventing wildfires have in some areas led to an accumulation of the dry vegetation that would ordinarily burn away in smaller natural blazes..."
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