Living in an LA suburb and hunting the surrounding forests, I am keenly aware of the excessive dead undergrowth and dead trees... in the lical forests. When I was a kid, and into young adulthood, I use to see prision crews clearing the dead stuff in the winter, putting it into burn piles; I have not seen crews of anytype doing this in 40+ years. The Santa Ana winds are nothing new, nor are fires during our Santa Ana winds. It has been predicted for decades that sooner or later, a wind driven fire will burn from our moutians/hills to the ocean, destroying everything in its path. We have had plenty of time and warnings to take preventive measures to better deal with such fires. As has already been pointed out, there have already been simular type of fires in Ca, and other states; yet our leaders have chosen to sit on their hands.
Unfortunately, these tragedies were predicated, and could have been minimized with appropriate steps that include infrastructure upgrades and more appropriate land management.