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Steve Haze stood on a pullout on Auberry Road, near the small town of Pine Ridge, in the foothills east of Fresno. He pointed to a yawning panorama of charred trees—the remnants of last year’s devastating Creek Fire. Beyond the burned forests stood the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada, which could just be made out through a veil of smoke. Haze, the district manager for the Sierra Resource Conservation District, held a white binder. It was filled with color-coded maps covered in red and green circles. The red circles represented structures that had been destroyed in the blaze; the…