[anigbrowl]

While these are earnest and constructive suggestions that would work in some contexts, I'm not sure you're taking the drought conditions into account. The basic problem we have in California is that water levels are hitting historic lows while forests are bone dry and so are the winds that fan fires.

[OneEyedRobot]

I also suspect that the change in the precipitation mix from snow to rain served to dry out a lot of these areas.