At root of most wildfires, by far: People

"It was not smart because the conditions there are just devastatingly dry. ... It's just been a big barbecue," D'Evelyn said.

The Forest Service investigation continues, and no arrests have been made.

People who inadvertently start fires or set signal fires face up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine and could be ordered to pay the costs of fighting the fire, Woolf said.

Crews protected most of the 400 homes and vacation cabins in and around Crown King. But other human-caused wildfires have been much more devastating.

In summer 2002, two separate blazes in eastern Arizona evolved into the worst wildfire in state history. One fire started as a signal fire, and the other was set by a firefighter seeking work. Together, the fires burned 732 square miles, destroyed 491 buildings and cost about $400 million to fight.

That same year in Colorado, a 215-square-mile fire destroyed 133 homes and one business and caused an estimated $29 million in damage. A former Forest Service employee said she accidentally started the blaze, despite a fire ban at the time, while burning a letter from her estranged husband.

Last October in north Los Angeles County, a 9-year-old boy admitted starting a blaze that ripped through 59 square miles and destroyed 21 homes. He had been playing with matches.

A month later, investigators say five young men started an illegal campfire on state park land that turned into a wildfire that destroyed 50 homes in Malibu.

"As long as you've got people in the woods, you always have the risk," said Tony Sciacca, commander of the team fighting the fire near Crown King. "People re-create in a fire-prone environment. You introduce fire into that environment, it'll burn."

___