SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new report says California state and local officials are encouraging rebuilding in areas destroyed by wildfires at a time when people should be redirected away from those areas to prevent damage from increasingly destructive wildfires.
A study by the University of California, Berkeley Center for Community Innovation commissioned by Next 10, a nonpartisan think tank, found that state and local policies emphasize retrofitting existing homes, ensuring homes have fuel breaks and communities an evacuation plan.
Researchers say this encourages wildfire victims to rebuild in fire-prone areas.
