I hear you, Ebbie. Nothing compared to raging forest fires, but my one experience with putting out a fire made me aware of how a little ignorance has the potential for a huge impact.

Ex-Hubby and I were living in a travel trailer in a little clearing in the woods. Was a drought year in NC, which doesn't compare at all to even typical dry season weather on the west coast. Don't remember what started the fire - probably a spark from a smudge stick or something like that. Dry grass and leaves flamed up. No big deal though we were startled by how quickly it flared and spread. We thought we could beat it out quickly. Except that 1. we were standing downwind from the flames and 2. the bulk of leaf litter and dry woods were upwind. Our efforts to beat out and smother the flames added to the effects of wind in driving the flames forward toward more combustible material. We fortunately realized that in time for one of us to move in front of the fire while the other ran to hook up a hose. Was pretty scary and a close call. I expect/hope that most people who live in drier and chronically fire-prone regions are a bit better informed than were we.