The federal government owns about 45% of California land. Of the forests, 57% are owned by the federal government; 39% are privately owned by individuals, corporations, or land trusts; and the state, county, or local governments control only 2%.
Also, most fires start in grassy areas. The Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise started as a grass fire on federal land before it spread to shrubs and burned through mostly private land. California has almost 8 million acres of shrubs.
The Woosley Fire that burned almost half of Malibu was started on industrial property owned by Boeing and spread through chaparral along the steep Santa Monica Mountains.
