Multiple causes, layered over a century of fire suppression.
California's fire problem is structural, not new. Pre-1850 estimates suggest 4–12 million acres burned annually — many set deliberately by Indigenous peoples to manage landscape. By contrast, the worst recent year (2020) burned 4.3 million acres, and the average since 2000 has been around 800,000.
What changed isn't fire frequency — it's where people live, how forests have been managed, and how much fuel has accumulated. Three forces converge: a century of fire suppression that built up fuel loads, climate change extending the fire season and drying vegetation, and 1.5+ million homes built in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) since 1990.
The question isn't whether California will keep burning. It will. The honest debate is over which interventions actually reduce damage, who pays, and whether the rebuild-and-repeat cycle in high-risk areas is financially sustainable for the state and its utilities.
What this section covers, tab by tab.
Acres burned, structures destroyed, deaths — historical context for the recent fire seasons.
Palisades, Eaton, and 12 others. 31 dead, 18,000 structures, $250B+ in damage.
Camp Fire bankruptcy, AB 1054, the wildfire fund, and how it shows up on your bill.
Federal vs. state ownership, prescribed burns, the 33-million-acre problem.
What share is climate change, what share is fuel buildup, and why both sides oversimplify.
What's working, what isn't, and the rebuild question California has yet to answer.