Editorial: Wildfires are natural disasters, but Congress refuses to budget for them

In a year of extraordinary natural disasters from hurricanes to floods to wildfires, here's another record-setter: Fiscal year 2017 was the U.S. Forest Service's most expensive fire season yet. The cost of battling blaze after ever-bigger blaze across the country topped $2.4 billion.

Two decades ago, the cost of fighting fires only consumed about 15 percent of the Forest Service's budget. But increased