[Hugh R]

Fires clear out the dead and diseased plants and trees. The ash is a fertilizer for the forest. It allows new growth to get sunlight were before the fire the undergrowth was shaded out. Since my house was OK, the fire was one of the best things that could happen to my property. Now I have grasses which will in decades be shaded out and out competed by more brush, which burns extremely hot. Since the brush is gone close to the house, I go out each Spring and kill the emerging brush with Roundup that is growing within about 200 feet of the house, as a fire break. My property, according to the Fire Department, hadn't burned in over 50 years, so it was time.