SFGate runs an article claiming California is burning "26 times less" than it did last year at this time. For purposes of discussion, let's say that dubious figure is accurate.
The article attributes this drawdown in fires to the wet winter CA had following the fires. It also mentions the 2018 super fires finally convinced Sierra Club-whipped Democrats that public forests need "managing" to reduce fire danger.
A factor not mentioned is that areas which burned off haven't regrown to the extent that much "fuel" is there to burn. Also, having been driven into bankruptcy by 2018's fires, northern CA electric provider Pacific Gas & Electric, (PG&E) has become very cautious about leaving the power on when dry, windy conditions threaten to generate sparks.
Finally, it is still early in the fire "season." Many of the worst fires happen in September, October and until the rains finally return in late November, if rain ever shows up at all. It could still turn bad, if not so bad as last year.
I wish CA's goofy politicians would build additional reservoirs to capture the water of the occasional rainy winter (all CA summers and many winters are dry). Hey, guys, don't think of it as drowning pristine mountain valleys, think of it as creating beautiful mountain lakes.
I don't want to hear about "wild" rivers either. Millions of people live there, and it is the nature of people - like beavers - to modify their environment to make it serve us better. First, get over it ... then get on with it.
