Wildfires are becoming a more common occurrence in California. This year alone, fires have burned through more than 200,000 acres.

On this episode of Inside the Issues, we look at the intersection of fire prevention and politics.

Los Angeles County recently released a 200-page report on the Woolsey Fire, which erupted last November and burned through an area nearly a third of the size of the city of L.A., causing three deaths and at least $5 billion worth of damage.

LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl joins us to talk about the Getty Fire, which was in her district, and she expands on the findings from the Woolsey Fire report. We talk about a new strategy that California’s utility companies have been using, dubbed the Public Safety Power Shutoff.

Downed power lines and faulty equipment can spark fires, and the utility companies hope these shutoffs during windy and or unusually hot days may help reduce the chance of fire.

Our Sarina Sandoval spoke with a Nevada City business owner about some of the downsides to those outages. The Los Angeles Times’ Sacramento Bureau Chief, John Myers, talks to us about the debate over what to do with the utility companies, their power over the state, and how California Governor Gavin Newsom has talked about possibly making them public companies instead of private.

We also talk to KCRW Reporter Stephanie O’Neill about what she has learned about fire prevention while covering these massive fires. We also talk to Governor Gray Davis about the 2003 fires that led to 24 fatalities, left 3,710 homes destroyed, burned more than 750,000 acres burned and did roughly $3.4 billion dollars in damage.

Let Inside the Issues know your thoughts and watch Monday through Friday at 8 and 11 p.m. on Spectrum News 1.