Can nething be done to prevent wildfires in california? it seems they happen too frequently, is there no plan?

Question

from what i remember there seems to be a fire every summer. why aren't they brainstorming ideas for prevention? are there? and have their ideas been unsuccessful?

is there any way to prevent these fires at all???

Answer 1

Forest fires are a natural part of the growth of a forest. Fire will get rid of old growth and allow an environment for new growth to flourish, for one. It is when those fires are caused by man that they become worse than they should be, that damage actually happens. All of the laws to try to prevent people from being careless with fire can't stop someone from doing as they please, though. So people will still toss aside a lit cigarette, leave a campfire smoldering, have some flammable debris forgotten, etc.

Answer 2

Most of the fires are from natural causes -- lightning strikes. Only a very smll nubmer of fires are man-made.

There is no real way to predict or stop thunderstorms and the associated lightning strikes.

However, fires need fuel, and part of the problem is that there is SO MUCH dead wood and brush in those areas -- because they are protected 'naturalist' areas.  All of this dead wood and brush is there because that is what happens when smaller plantsa and grasses die from year to year.  It is perfectly normal, and expected.

So, the only way to stop the fires would be to go in and clean up all the dea wood and brush -- but then the area would no longer be "naturalistic" areas.

So you can't have it both way -- you can't be safe from natural fires AND have a completely natural wooded area.  If you go in and clean up the brush, the area is no longer "natural", but it IS fire safe.  Or, you leave the area in their naturla state, and accept the fact that you're going to have to fight fires.

Consider this -- Those fires are nature's way of clearing the brush and dead wood.  Forest fires like this have been happening for thousand of years.

And California is not the only place.  Prairie grass fires are also common, but less so due to trhe amount of rain and farming in the central plains.