Politics
Why Two Years of Historic Wildfires Haven’t Made Southern California Safer
The state will keep burning unless it rethinks building in fire country.
A neighborhood in Lake Elsinore, Calif., covered in fire retardant dropped by an air tanker.
Photographer: JMarcio Jose Sanchez/AP PhotoThis article is for subscribers only.
To understand what drives America’s increasingly severe wildfire problem, watch what happens after a blaze—and what doesn’t.
In the wake of last year’s widespread fires in California, the state found $300 million to pay for helicopters, increased staffing at its emergency command centers, and established a task force on forest management. What the state didn’t do enough of, fire safety experts warn, is push through the sort of change that matters most: fewer ill-protected homes at the edge of the forest.