My wife and I were talking about this on the way into work this morning and she made the statement that 30% of the workers fighting the fires are convicted felons working through the prison system. That didn't surprise me too much because I knew they had programs like that in place. I am sympathetic to those who have lost loved ones or their homes, but I also feel like this is a byproduct of our own hubris. We build houses on top of each other and keep expanding out so that things like this happen. Forest fires have been happening for eons, they are a natural thing, but all this fuel allowing them to grow to immense proportions is not.