Not a dumb question at all. Not a domain expert but an enthusiast so I'll take a crack at an answer: Maximal fire suppression strategies have been the most pre

Not a dumb question at all. Not a domain expert but an enthusiast so I'll take a crack at an answer: Maximal fire suppression strategies have been the most prevalent approach to avoiding property damage and loss of life caused by forest fires for most of the past century, despite the known harm to ecological systems that rely on periodic burning, because nature is difficult to control/predict and prescribed burns (an alternative or supplemental approach) are time and labor intensive.