Hmm. CalFire tells us that over the last eight years (2016-23) there was an average of 7746 wildfires each year, burning an average of 1.5 million acres annually.
Pre-1800 the annual average burned each year was 4.4 million acres. “Fires ignited by lightning and Native Americans have been a component of the majority of California ecosystems for thousands of years…Skies were likely smoky much of the summer and fall in California during the prehistoric period.”
Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands
Stephens et al.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112707004379
DB2