[bo1024]

This is very interesting but I think there is a bigger context too. My understanding (though I'm not an expert) is that wildfires are a normal, regular, naturally-occurring phenomenon. When humans artificially prevent forest fires from taking their natural course, this causes dead wood to continue building up significantly more, which causes the fires to be much more destructive when they do happen.

So if these fires are essentially inevitable, maybe there should be less emphasis on the thing that happened to kick it off and more on preventing the conditions for it to become huge and destructive.

[woliveirajr]

This. There are studies supporting this conclusion [0]: "Without adequate prevention measures, forest debris can build up, fueling a bigger, more devastating fire the next time around."

And this [1]: "This leaves authorities with a difficult problem. After decades of successful wildfire suppression, we can now expect fires to be far worse when they finally happen."

[0] http://news.mit.edu/2013/forest-fire-management-1120

[1] http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160722-why-we-should-let-ra...

[nerdponx]

Some articles worth reading if you're interested in this topic:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14318646

https://priceonomics.com/does-using-airplanes-to-put-out-for...

[cwbrandsma]

Where I live (Southern Idaho) it isn't just forest burning, but also the desert wild lands. The burning is now worse because of invasive species of grass (cheat grass). So now the cheat grass is pushing out the native grasses and sage brush because the seeds tolerate burning better, and the grass grows quickly....much faster than the native plants. To make it worse again, the cheat grass dies out in summer faster creating a greater burn hazard.

I jokingly say my area has 5 seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Smoke, and Fall.

[dmckeon]

Rain, Green, Brown, and Fire, in much of California.

[overcast]

You are correct, they are essential to the health of forests. The massive 1988 fire in Yellowstone, was a direct result of humans intervening.

https://blog.suny.edu/2013/08/ask-an-expert-why-are-wildfire...