What the extreme fire seasons of 1910 and 2020–and 2,500 years of forest history–tell us about the future of wildfires in the West Strong winds blew across mountain slopes after a record-setting warm, dry summer. Small fires began to blow up into huge conflagrations. Towns in crisis scrambled to escape as fires bore down. This could describe any number of recent events, in places as disparate as Colorado, California, Canada and Hawaii.