<p>SAN BERNARDINO -- Southern California's record wildfires have not only scorched hundreds of homes, they have rekindled debate on whether the government could prevent such conflagrations by actively removing brush and other forest "fuels."</p>
<p>Some Western politicians have seized on the blazes as reason for Congress to pass "Healthy Forests" legislation supported by the Bush administration, which would truncate environmental reviews to speed up the thinning of national forests.</p>
