California Wildfires: Nature's way of Clearing Builtup Suburbs

The fires in California are more then the result of a "natural disaster". It is the result of the development of low-tax, low density suburbia. The low density means too much land is used for too few people. Low taxes mean that public services can't be provided. Little or no regulations means that suburbia mindlessly grows.

Southern California was the birth place of a type anti-reality "conservativism". The Reagan revolution believed in making the world safe for billionaires, millionaires and assorted retainers, with low taxes and lots of growth. In the same way some that parts of coastal Gulf of Mexico shouldn't be rebuilt in time for the next hurricane, the low density semi wild land suburbia of California probably shouldn't be rebuilt in time for the next wild fire.

Here is a an article about San Diego and its fires. It includes this description of a developer friendly civic regime.

Local politics also plays a role in this "natural" disaster. San Diegans have failed to learn the lessons from the terrible firestorms that ravaged the county in October 2003. At the time, San Diego had no unified county fire department. The city, the county, and outside agencies failed to work in concert. The city had a small fleet of antiquated fire engines, no firefighting helicopters, and not enough money for radios, batteries and emergency fire shelters for its firefighters. At the time, the city, arguably the most fire-prone major city in the United States, ranked 40th in the nation in firefighters per capita.