Very few of these stories ever touch on the fact that forest fires play an important part of the natural cycle of many forests. They allow certain trees to flourish by burning the underbrush. Native Americans regularly started fires to certain groves, mostly for manipulation of the habitat to make hunting and gathering easier and to promote of ecodiversity. Part of the reason the redwoods have persisted is that their forests were burned fairly regularly. On the other hand, forests without regular fires--those in which we attempt to avoid fire at all cost--can become so run over with dry underbrush that when they do finally catch fire, they burn hot and fast and kill everything, even those trees that would usually benefit from milder fires. Of course, on the other hand, we don't want our permanent houses to burn down and we do want to live near the forest. This was a problem nomadic groups never had. I just find it funny that forest fires are so often discussed as if they are somehow unnatural.