Associated Press says Feds didn't prepare for fire

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The Associated Press today moved a story on the wire that said federal authorties "failed to follow through" on plans to conduct prescribed burns that would have cleared brush now involved in raging wildfires.

According to the story, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn more than 1,700 acres of Southern California's Angeles National Forest months ago. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time the fire broke out.

The Forest Service said weather, wind and environmental rules limit how often they can conduct prescribed burns.

AP reporter Michael Blood turned to the co-director of the UC Berkeley Center for Fire Research and Outreach, Max Moritz, for comment. He said opinions vary about the need to do more prescribed burns to reduce the fire hazard. "You have this difficult needle you have to thread to find the right place, the right conditions, to pull it off," Moritz was quoted.

He believes a different approach should be used to reduce the high cost of fighting wildland fires. The answer, Moritz said, is to stop building homes and cabins in fire-prone areas.

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