Frankly, with regard to National Forests of the western U.S., it is because preventing massive wildfires is expensive and the country has other priorities. As other commenters pointed out, many forested areas in the western U.S. read more
Because we're so good at preventing the smaller ones. The natural course of nature is that fires happen occasionally, burning through a modest amount of underbrush and then dying out. read more
The natural course of nature is that fires happen occasionally, burning through a modest amount of underbrush and then dying out. The fire doesn't get out of control, the tree gets modestly burned, but it survives and the fire doesn't become a massive wildfire (it's still a wildfire, obviously. read more
originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Court Showerman, Northern California resident, on Quora: The Napa Valley fires were absolutely devastating. read more