[Coyoteman]

Do what the Native Americans did for thousands of years in that area - clean up the dead wood, and do controlled burns.

Correct. Fuel buildup is the single greatest factor in these fires.

Without the heavy fuel buildup, the low humidity, high temperatures, and heavy winds would have little to work with.

A good book on the subject:

Thomas C. Blackburn & Kat Anderson
1993 Before the Wilderness: Environmental Management by Native Americans. Ballena Press.

[xcamel]

It’s another “forget history” thing - IIRC a couple thousand people died in northern or central california back in the 1890’s or 1920’s from a massive fire...but the local tribes never even saw so much as an ember flying by...

[cherry]

some of these areas were burned 2 years ago, so its not all just fuel buildup....

unless you live in the West, you can't imagine how hot and dry it gets.....

in my area....eastern Washington..it was as dry this past June as it usually is at the end of August...

throw in the wind, and you get a disaster....