Alright, let me tell you something about California: The whole place catches on fire. Whether you're middle-class or upper-class, you probably live near something very flammable. Whether it's a forest that drops a @#%$-load of pine needles, or chaparal or coastal sage, people of various economic classes live there. I have a field just a block down from my house that the fire department cuts every year or so to keep it from catching a dozen or more houses on fire if it does ever go up. I used to take my bike down there and ride around. It's not all that big or anything, though.

See, fire is a natural part of pretty much every California ecosystem. I think pine cones open up and disperse their seeds when they are heated so that they can take advantage of the freed-up light and the plentiful ashes on the ground, and here in the lower regions, fires recycle wooded areas into grasslands, which become eventually becomes chaparal, and wooded area again. This keeps various species cycling throughout the ecosystem. However, humans more than a century ago started putting out these fires because they didn't understand them. Biomass collected for a much longer period of time, and instead of burning in patches of old shrubs or trees or grass exclusively, ALL of California became old enough to burn. This pretty much threw off their balance and caused them to be much, much larger when they did catch. This wasn't an intentional human error, though.

Anyway, that's why our wildfires are so big now: because our fire departments put them out. Yeah, it's actually true. If they only put out fires that got near houses, it would be different, but with the situation we've gotten ourselves into, it would be difficult. This is because any fires that do start have a whole lot of biomass to feed on and Santa Ana winds to push them. Thus, houses that are anywhere near large, open areas are subject to wildfires. Most people build their mansions in the mountains or in the middle of Hollywood. However, what usually burns in our wildfires is our shrubs and grasses. That's why it's not exclusively mansions that burn.

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With Bow let us win Kine, with Bow in battle, with
Bow be victory in our hot encounters,
The Bow brings grief and sorrow to the foeman; armed
With Bow may we subdue all regions.
Close to his ear, as fain to speak, she presses, holding
Her well-loved friend in her embraces;
Strained on the bow, she whispers like a woman -- this
Bow-string that preserves us in the Combat.

o.O

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With Bow let us win Kine, with Bow in battle, with
Bow be victory in our hot encounters,
The Bow brings grief and sorrow to the foeman; armed
With Bow may we subdue all regions.
Close to his ear, as fain to speak, she presses, holding
Her well-loved friend in her embraces;
Strained on the bow, she whispers like a woman -- this
Bow-string that preserves us in the Combat.

Justice? Who asks for justice? We make our own justice. We make it here...win or die. Let us not rail about justice as long as we have arms and the freedom to use them.
Duke Leto Atreides, Dune