[nutellatoast]

The policy of aggressive suppression and few prescribed burns started around a century ago in CA, allowing fuel to build up and fires to become that much less controllable.

Addressed in more detail here: https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-...

[biswaroop]

Thanks for linking this article! I loved reading it. I'm curious to hear any counterpoints from experts to the main ideas presented here.

[taurath]

This is definitely a narrative I hear a lot, but the question is if it’s so clear why haven’t they started doing more prescribed burns?

[mitchbob]

Because people hate the smoke they cause, particularly in parks during peak vacation season.

[hokumguru]

Also because environmentalists in CA see any destruction of the environment as a bad thing, even if it is an overall net gain for the system.