@polarisera @tk @feld most of this insurance is a hangover from the earliest era of California's manifest destiny push. The anzo borrego desertification and Salton sea type stuff....

Americans literally believed it was not only possible but their duty to bend nature to their will and things like this only spiraled out of control as climate change ramped up. They were never sustainable. No one should live in areas of desert prone to annual fires as part of their ecosystem.