@Dominions Son
It depends on what you mean by prevention programs.
In a way some of those programs were too active.
A ground fire doesn't kill mature trees, that takes a canopy fire.
Active programs to watch for and stomp out any fire as quickly as possible combined with cutting off logging and other efforts to thin forests has resulted in a massive build up of fuel on the ground almost guaranteeing a canopy fire when a fire does get started.
That is the real problem in California and Oregon.
"Cutting trees is bad", so nobody goes in and thins out the dead and dying trees. They are handled with a "hands off" approach, and just left to grow out of control. And with efforts to stop all fires, eventually the debris builds up so that when a fire does get out of control, it can no longer be stopped.
I know when I lived in Oroville, it was easy to spot the old "firebreaks" on the hillsides. Where it was common at one time to bulldoze and keep clear large areas, so that if a fire broke out it could be contained. And a great many were actually maintained by the logging companies. They had a vested interest in keeping the forests healthy, and both eliminating dead wood and debris, and replanting.
Now, nobody maintains them, and when fires break out (like we have had the last 3 years), they run out of control. Yet you look at other states (Idaho, Wyoming, Montana), some areas are still maintained by the logging industry, and others are left to run wild. And the ones that burn most often and are more extensive are the ones that are not maintained.
Until 30 years ago, Yellowstone was like that. Then a huge chunk of the park burned down. They still allow almost no logging, but now allow and monitor fires when they do break out. And while there were 17 fires there last year, none of them did major damage to the park. Because they admit that unless you are going to maintain an area manually, you just have to let nature do it in its own way.
This is the problem when you have people who really do not understand something trying to run it. Timber companies are bad and no trees should ever be cut down. OK, great, go ahead and force that through if that is what you think. But somebody had better step up and replace them when it comes to maintaining the forests.
I find it most funny that most who try to push those beliefs have probably never actually been in a forest.