As the flames spread through San Diego County, Newsdesk.org looks back at our 2004 article on California wildfire ecology, why the Golden State will always be a fire hazard, and how humans have made it worse.

This is classic Newsdesk.org reporting — digging into the backstory to take the headlines out of the discontinuous, TV-driven present, and into the realm of deep context and long-term cause and effect.

“Why California Must Burn”
Newsdesk.org, January 2004