the fires don't burn in the middle of the city. I don't necessarily buy the "global warming" argument, but could easily understand an air quality concern. Due to the microclimates in the city, it is easy for particulate matter to not clear leading to less-than-stellar air quality. As Hugh said, take a look at LA air quality over the past 100 years. The bans on certain activities along with stringent environmental controls have made a night-and-day difference.
and yeah, the earth did just fine before the people started messing it up
