Sapper & Kat

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Fires are a feature of any forested area, (is it the Californian Redwood that needs fire to trigger the release of it's seeds?)
By preventing smaller fires we have probably made those that do occur more severe and dangerous not only by allowing a build up of dead scrub and brushwood, but by allowing a tree density much higher than occurs in unmanaged woodland.
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It's the same here in Oz - we also have plants that need fire to regenarate, and folks want to live in wild & beautiful areas, & won't take proper precautions, and don't want ANYTHING burnt. The fire services can't do much in good times, then a huge fire/series of fires come thru, many homes & businesses are lost, & people die.

I was visiting Adelaide in 1987 a few years after huge fires in the hills. My friends took me around the formerly burnt area where some folks were building on the exact spot where their homes had stood. One person who did not rebuild was the man who boasted of his swimming pool & pump - he forgot no electricity = no pump & he died.

sandra