Fireproofing homes is late, as usual

As officials brace for another wildfire station, one that started much earlier than usual due to unseasonably warm weather, a priority is to protect homes and property.

Many of these homes are too close to forestland, almost always public. And too many have sprouted in the aftermath of previous wildfires, which authorities and the public suspect were the result of arson, started expressly to for the purpose of building. Many took advantage of the desolation to build on land they held no title to and in defiance of legislation that expressly forbids building on forestland consumed by fire.

The Energy and Environment Ministry announced Wednesday that it had secured €30 million from the Green Climate Fund, a global fund established by the 2015 Paris Agreement, to construct and maintain firebreaks around settlements built in forestland, irrespective of the legality of...