The 1942 movie Bambi (see the fire scene above) and a 1964 public service announcement featuring Smokey Bear and Bambi (below), influenced a couple of generations, making it difficult for the public to think of fire in the forest as anything other than a terrible menace that to be defeated, prevented, or immediately suppressed at any cost. The struggle to accept prescribed fire as a legitimate forest management practice continues to this day.
I disagree with that line of thinking a man caused fire should never start and Smokey and Bambi were fire prevention tools for man caused fires not that all fires were bad or reducing fuels in a managed situation was wrong. Back in the 60’s and after we were burning cut blocks and removing logging slash with fire
Smokey was a Fire prevention Icon not the fire fighter of wild lands he used his shovel to put out abandoned camp fires and cigarette fires caused by people.
Too many have made that into the reason there is more fuel. That reason is because the Fires were all suppressed as small as possible by the Fire Fighters.
The first message is and has always been man caused fires are preventable.