The area had a fire return interval of about 7 to 10 years until white guys started building shacks in the brush. So the vegetation accumulates when the fires are suppressed for 100 years to a level that is explosive. It can be mitigated, but not for free.
It is a combination of fuels management, zoning, and insurance company complicity. Of course, having a climate doing wild swings out here isn't really helping.
Wind-driven fires with 8% humidity do not take much fuel to achieve critical rate of spread. It was absolutely the worst case secenario imaginable. Most of the people that have been killed were people fleeing in cars that got blocked by fallen trees, and barbecued in place.
The whole town of Paradise is on a knife ridge with heavy fuels below it on both sides... everyone knew it was a fire trap, but that didn't stop construction of a city. Only one way in and out on a ridgetop road. There is another one nearby that is even worse, called Forest Ranch, that will be in the news in the future if not in the next few days.
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