California wildfires

[Lynyrd Skynyrd]

Firstly, it's not "underbrush" that is burning in these fires.

Underbrush occurs in forests, the areas in Socal that are burning are not forests; they are mountainous scrub lands. Too many people fail to understand the difference. The infamous Camp Fire that burned several years ago was a "forest" fire.

Secondly, these fires are occurring in steep, narrow canyons where "clearing" is not practical: the vegetation (largely highly flammable manzanita) grows fast and too thick to walk through. The canyon walls are very steep as well.

Think in terms of trying to clear the face of hundreds of miles of mountainside while hanging from a rope.


P.S.:

And if, by some miracle you were able to clear all that mountain side, you would then have to contend with massive mud and rock slides as soon as the rainy season hit.

Although, to be honest, given the likelihood of climate changes further desertification of the region, "rainy season" is probably a disappearing memory.

Nonsense. The California rainy season is not going away, and there are many clever ways to clear brush on hillsides. It just wasn't being done, just like the reservoirs were not being filled.