Thank you, retrocop, that's a good article. It does not state that firebreaks have been cut back ... quite the opposite, saying "At state level, since the major fires of the 2000s, funding for fire management has increased and coordination between fire response and land management agencies has improved." It goes on to say that more could be done, which is of course true. But for anyone to suggest that less is being done, and that the people/Government brought this year's disaster on themselves by taking policies backwards, is just wrong.