[catherinecodes]

> Native Americans routinely burned the landscape—to foster the growth of useful plants, to clear space for farming, and to improve the conditions for hunting. > ... > In addition to maintaining parklike conditions, these managed blazes prevented fuel from building up, and so staved off larger, potentially unmanageable conflagrations.

Much of the world still operates like this. Check out the Chiang Mai, Thailand burning season[1].

The US and Canada are some of the only countries where wood is the primary building material. In the rest of the world, stone is used which doesn't catch fire so easily. That might help explain the fear of fires in the US.

1: https://thaifreu.de/chiang-mai/burning-season/

[punnerud]

And the Nordic countries (places where they have a lot of forest)

[catherinecodes]

The government of Russia, home to the world's largest forest reserves, is trying to subsidize wood-frame buildings. Most modern buildings are made from stone, though, because of fire regulations[1].

1: https://nordregioprojects.org/blog/2021/02/02/wood-in-constr...