Rec for visibility

I expect even larger fires in the future... and the only thing that will stop them is the lack of fuel (i.e. no more trees and brush to burn).

Given that our little valley was completely blackened around our street, it's hard to imagine how, except sheer luck and water-dropping helicopters. Flames came so close that a lot of landscaping in people's back yards (i.e. backing on the hillsides) was lost, and the 200 year old oak tree just off our back patio has an enduring burn scar facing the house. The outdoor lighting system installed by the prior owners melted. Our neighborhood was so lucky.

So, I think about fuel load a lot. Californians all do. I have my fingers crossed that we get to live out our lives in this lovely spot (we are 71) -- that what was going to burn has already burned, and that it will hold steady for the next 2 or 3 decades as is normal.

But it will get worse for California. I just keep thinking about the pine bark beetles infesting the dead and dying pine trees in the SoCal forests. Only fire is going to clear that out.

you would drive down the highways and I-70 and see what looked to be "normal" pine trees lining the road... but it you slowed down or stopped and got out and hiked into the forest, you would find that it was clear cut or nearly so behind the thin line of trees near the highway. They would cut up the trees and put logs into these white plastic bags (I guess to trap the pine beetles?) and there would be dozens to hundreds of these bagged trees running off into the distance. A few trees survived but the forest was not a forest. I can't find pictures of this practice... it was a few decades ago.