"California Bent on Rebuilding Despite Wildfire Risk"

Katherine Mangu-Ward | November 18, 2008

Oh California. You burn and burn—1,000 homes have gone up in flames since Thursday—and yet...

Visiting a mobile home park in the chaparral-covered foothills where 500 dwellings were leveled in the latest firestorm, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Sunday: "Every single time there is a fire like that we learn new things."...

Then:

"We want to let the people know that the state is with you, we're going to help to get your homes back and your structures back, to get your lives back," Schwarzenegger said.

Looks like the opposite is more likely true: Every time there's a fire, California does pretty much exactly the same thing.

More on the eternal recurrence of the California wildfires here, here, and here.