EDITORIAL TRIALS BY FIRE LESSONS NEED TO BE LEARNED FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S DISASTER.

THE worst fire season in California's modern history has much to do with Mother Nature's capriciousness. But the devastation wrought in some areas, and avoided in others, had more to do with choices made months and years ago.

Among them are decisions made by state and federal officials to fund firefighting programs, the lack of commitment to clear brush and dead trees, building codes and local sentiments about the need for fire services. All played a part in what burned, how much, and why it burned so long.

While the Santa Ana winds fanned 13 wildfires from Ventura County to the Mexican border, not all raged out of control, wiping out neighborhoods and, in some cases, entire towns.

Los Angeles and Ventura counties, for example, escaped comparably unscathed even though the Simi Valley/Val Verde and Piru fires licked at the edges of urban residential areas, burning 28 homes and charring through 116,000 acres on the border of the largest city west of the Hudson River. Most importantly, no lives were lost.

San Diego County's Cedar and Paradise fires, by comparison, cost 16 lives, 1,600 houses and more than 328,000 acres - by far the most destructive of last week's wildfires. The series of fires in San Bernardino County were nearly as devastating.

Why did the fires destroy some areas and spare others? While all the variables won't be known until the last embers are extinguished, available resources most likely played a big part.

By all accounts, the larger urban areas have better resources. Los Angeles city and county, for example, have SuperScooper firefighting planes, helicopters and a larger firefighting force by far than San Diego.

The protection of the environment also played a crucial role, as both San Diego and San Bernardino counties suffered from an excess of fuels due to the lack of funds dedicated for removal, even though it was clear to most that they posed the threat of catastrophic fire.

Once the final toll is calculated, officials must examine all of these factors to craft a sensible and safe fire protection policy for future fire seasons. Once governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger should quickly appoint a broad-based state commission of experts to examine the good and bad lessons of the unprecedented series of firestorms.

In Southern California, fires and Santa Ana winds are a fact of life, just like earthquakes. Our hope is to minimize the destruction and loss of life by learning all we can from this tragedy so people can be better prepared the next time Mother Nature rages.