I totally blame the environmentalists for not allowing controlled fires.
The Biscuit Fire was a wildfire that took place in 2002 that burned nearly 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) in the Siskiyou National Forest in southern Oregon and northern California, in the Western United States. The fire was named after Biscuit Creek in southern Oregon. It started small but all initially all mechanical devices (including chainsaws and vehicles) were banned because of a Wilderness Area and you see the results. The feds hate to be reminded of this fire.
Since the fire, the United States Forest Service tried encourage logging most of the severely burnt area, despite ecologists' concerns about the Port Orford Cedar, which is threatened from a root fungus that is most commonly spread on car tires and shoes. This was be the largest recorded timber sale in U.S. history, and a landmark case setting the future for all fires in national forests. (In 2002 the federal government required Clorox to be added to all the water that was put on the fire.) The cost of salvage logging far outweighed the proceeds from sales (-$1.9 million). In 2006, a research paper on the effects of post-wildfire salvage logging caused a controversy within the forest sciences community.
Now we come to the present: Today was another relatively active day for fire behavior on the Labrador Fire located south/west of the Illinois River and downstream of Oak Flat close to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. The fire is currently estimated to be approximately 300 acres in size.
Challenges to the firefighters include post-Biscuit Fire conditions, which include scores of standing dead snags and 20 foot-high brush fields. The snags have a tendency to fall over, roll down hill and then re-ignite, making conditions very treacherous for the firefighters on the ground.