“I have always though the best place to ask about these forest fires is forestry guys. Go find some, talk with them, and you may just find that forest stewardship relies fairly heavy on the logging/lumber industry.”
The forest products industry works to protect itself by making sure that fire won’t destroy the raw product.
The big growers like Weyerhauser and IP have a staff of foresters who work to protect their investment.
I am a timber grower and have worked with a forester for about 30 years to grow and protect our future raw materials that will be turned into 2X4’s in the futures.
The last thing you would do in your timber stands is allow ladder fuels to grow and die in a wet/dry season like they have out west. After the first year of growth (2016) you would light up all the growth to remove it. By 2017 it would have been a bit late, but still doable in low wind conditions (when CARB bans any kind of prescriptive or natural fire due to "pollution"). By this year the 2016 growth would start to put your trees at risk.
Instead of properly managing the extra 2016 fuel growth, California maintained their insane "air quality" regualations. I see no evidence that they have learned anything from the Napa disaster last fall.