California plan to ban most plants within 5 feet of homes for wildfire safety overlooks some important truths about flammability
- Written by Max Moritz, Wildfire Specialist, University of California Cooperative Extension; Adjunct Professor at the Bren School, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of California, Santa Barbara

One of the most striking patterns in the aftermath of many urban fires is how much unburned green vegetation remains amid the wreckage of burned neighborhoods.
In some cases, a row of shrubs may be all...