[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by NoMo50

Having been born and raised in southern California, I can tell you that not only has it always been this bad, it has been worse. In the late 60's and early 70's, wildfires across the hills between the mountains and the coast were regular occurrences.

Driven by the Santa Ana winds, those fires would race through the dry grass and scrub brush unimpeded, as they had been doing for thousands of years. The big difference between then and now is that homes have been built on those hills and valleys. The fires still occur, as they always have, but now they cause billions of dollars in damage. My old stomping grounds, back in 1969, had a population of around 29,000 souls. Today that same area is home to nearly 700,000 people. Do the math.

It is not unlike building a home in certain areas around New Orleans. If you build a home at an elevation that is lower than the Gulf of Mexico, and Lake Pontchartrain, what are the chances your home may flood? When people settle into what are natural pathways for nature to vent, Mother Nature always wins.

Then maybe governments need to be more accepting of nature, and stop allowing development in places where Mother Nature will ALWAYS win. Unfortunately that'd be bad for business and when it comes to politics - profiting business tends to trump "the good of the whole."