California says federal ‘let it burn’ policy is reckless as wildfires rage out of control
DOYLE, Calif. — Volunteer fire chief Kathy Catron wants answers about why the Sugar fire ever grew large enough to burn her town, why it wasn’t put out before it exploded and turned uncontrollable . “It never should have got here,” said Catron, a former school bus driver who runs a 16-person department in this Lassen County town staffed mostly by friends and family, including her kids. “It never should have happened.” Raging July fires are becoming the norm in California. So is the animus of Catron and others about how they are fought— especially on federal lands and in their early hours — and who makes those choices. With wildfires across the West arriving earlier, spreading faster and wreaking more destruction, once-obscure policy battles between firefighting agencies are coming under public scrutiny, adding to a distrust of federal government that has long had a foothold in the rural communities most hard-hit by fire. Who decides whether a blaze is crushed or allowed to burn i
