Re: Calif. Wildfire Forces Evacuations

Fires are a natural part of the forest ecology. They are a necessary stage for any healthy land. Suppressing them for the past century has led to a buildup of underbrush, which not only is ugly and leads to increased plant disease, it creates brutal fire conditions when one inevitably breaks out. Personally, I love seeing a burned out land return to form. The fire encourages new growth and destroys underbrush. Native Americans routinely burned the entire United States. As a result, California was a beautiful parkland of towering, well-spaced trees, with no buggy chaparral and dead trees blanketing our hills. We should embrace these fires and work to protect the homes that are in the way.