The names are ominously familiar: Camp. CZU Lightning. Caldor. And more recently, Palisades. Between 2018 and 2023, more than 41,000 structures in California were destroyed and 152 lives were lost in wildfires. What can you do to improve your chances?

Kate Wilkin is an assistant professor of fire ecology at San Jose State University. This summer, she and her colleagues published a study of 176 homes in the Lake Tahoe area and Santa Cruz Mountains. After detailed inspections, they found only 2% met or came close to meeting state standards for reducing fire risk.

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This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity and length.

Q: What did you find?

A: We have a long way to go to adapt to the wildfire crisis. As a whole, we are not mitigating well.

Q: It sounds l

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