Yes, fires are only more notable today for two reasons: 1) As more of the population sprawls out into rural land, the cost of fires in homes/insurance becomes a headline, and 2) lack of forest "management" for almost 50 years has left our forests with too much dead "fuel" on the ground that fires rage out of control from forest floor to tree top and no options but to let them burn out. (Before banning BLM lands and Forrest lands from grazing, sheep, cattle, etc would keep the underbrush down, and controlled fires were actually set to prevent the build up of "fuel".)
You nailed it.