"They Saw Fires as Freak Events"

"'It was a period of almost zero environmental consciousness,' said Philip Ethington, a professor of history, political science and spatial sciences at USC. 'They had a poor understanding of the long, long history of fires, and the long ecological necessity of them. The developers didn't want to dwell on the hazards.'"

Jenny Jarvie at the Los Angeles Times tells the "story of how Los Angeles developed itself for disaster."