FILE — A firefighter uses his bare hand to feel for underground heat while looking for hot spots in an area of brush that burned during the Palisades Fire, in the area of Topanga, Calif., Jan. 13, 2025. Blazes that firefighters thought had died but then later came roaring back to life have become increasingly common, heightening scrutiny of how first-responders put out wildfires. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
IN October 1991, a small grass fire was reported near the Caldecott Tunnel in Northern California’s Berkeley Hills.
It seemed minor, but five years of drought had primed the eucalyptus and Monterey pines for disaster.
