A second reason is that more people live in combustible places. Since 1990 60% of new homes in California, Washington and Oregon have been built in spaces abutting nature, says Ray Rasker of Headwaters Economics, a research firm. These areas, which environmentalists call the “wildland-urban interface”, are at higher risk of wildfire. Power lines can fall or make contact with trees; people can also cause the first spark. City and county governments, hungry for the tax revenue that comes from new developments, often wave through new buildings in areas that are fire-prone.
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