imagine for a moment, a firetruck driving down a street at 12 miles per hour; next to the truck is a dog from the firehouse, running along side.

What you describe is similar to "the dog decided to turn left at the corner, so things are better now"

The sheer number of people involved in fire response, and the deadly and immediate nature of their work, has natural links to military style leadership and organizational behavior.

No way, at all.. is "more controlled burning recently" the driving factor in the new stats.

The budgets and the size of the destruction, are hard for a person to think of.. in California

Real devastation was caused by "catastrophic" fires, burning at higher temperatures than previously recorded. Extensive forest die-off preceded these events in California. This is not over in one or two rainy years, since recent shrub growth is subject to die-off in a dry year and will burn.