In his 1840 book, "Two Years Before the Mast," Richard Henry Dana Jr. recounts his conversations with residents in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties about a massive wildfire that swept through the wilderness surrounding them.

"The fire was described to me by an inhabitant as having been a very terrible and magnificent sight," he wrote. "The hills have no large trees upon them, they having been all burnt by a great fire which swept them off about a dozen years before."

That account illustrates a fact that was as true 167 years ago as it is today: Fire is a major part of Los Padres National Forest.

Nine of the state's largest fires have occurred in Los Padres, including the Zaca fire and last year's Day fire, which rank second and sixth, respectively, as the state's largest fires in modern history. Every year, an average of 25,000 acres burns in the forest, which stretches along the Central Coast.

"The Los Padres is a fire forest," said Anthony Escobar, chief of fire and aviation management of the forest.

In order to stave off massive fires, Los Padres is home to one of the more extensive prescribed burning programs in the state. The goal is to remove shrubs and other fuels that build up, which could potentially feed fires, Escobar said. As many as 5,000 acres are strategically burned every year.

The prescribed burns are done under ideal conditions so firefighters can control how fast and far the fire spreads.

Letting fires burn ruled out

But unlike some places, Los Padres has a policy of aggressively putting out every wildfire that sparks up. Some forests will allow fires to slowly burn off bushes beneath larger trees. But because Los Padres consists mostly of low-lying, highly flammable plants, that's not an option, Escobar said.

With low humidity and high winds, a fire in the most remote part of the forest could reach urban areas such as Ojai or Santa Barbara within a few days, he said.

In a coastal climate, natural, lightning fires are rare. Most of the fires locally are started by people.

Because much of the vast forest is so remote, dense areas of brush can build up, further fueling fires when they come every few decades. Some areas of the Zaca and Day fires hadn't burned in more than a century.

Some criticize the Forest Service's policy of putting out every fire, saying it eventually leads to more intense fires because of the buildup of fuels.

"Suppressing wildfires actually increases the risk to our local communities from wildfires," said Jeff Kuyper, executive director of the environmental group ForestWatch. "Their philosophy keeps on feeding itself."

Escobar disputes that claim, saying the Forest Service actively tries to mimic the effects of natural fire by clearing brush and prescribed burns. There are too many communities too close to the forest that would be at risk if the service had a different policy, he said.

Wildlife can thrive

Though there is inevitably some loss of wildlife during the fire, many animals thrive in the burn areas in the years after a fire, said Donna Toth, the forest's Burned Area Emergency Response coordinator.

Parts of the area in the Zaca fire were so dense with brush that larger mammals never ventured into them, Toth said. Now they can.

"In the long term, fire can be beneficial to these species," she said.

California Department of Fish and Game Lt. Chris Long said he was in the Day fire area a few weeks ago and saw green sprigs rising from the charred ground.

Younger plants offer more nutrition to wildlife than older ones do, furthering a robust environment.

"You'd be amazed how much is sprouting back," he said. "Especially in Southern California chaparral, two years into a burn you wouldn't believe how many deer and bear are around compared to before."

Fires rarely burn uniformly, instead leaving pockets of vegetation here and there, creating a mosaic of habitat for a variety of species, Long said.

Rain brings changes

The California red-legged frogs and arroyo toad could have problems if the streams are filled with ash and runoff from the barren slopes once the winter rains arrive, said Della Snyder-Velto, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

She will soon begin examining how animals on the endangered species list were affected by the Zaca fire.

How the fires will affect humans in the coming months depends a lot on rain.

With the fire denuding the landscape of plants in places, runoff and erosion can exacerbate flooding issues. Toth's team will assess what mitigation on trails and roads needs to be done to ease erosion problems. Her crew is nearly finished with similar work in the Day fire area.

Agencies prepare for flooding

This year's lack of rain was a Catch-22 — while it lessened any potential effects of erosion, it didn't help to seed some areas with new growth to stabilize hillsides.

Ventura County Watershed Protection District director Jeff Pratt said his agency is getting ready for potential increases in flooding from the Zaca fire, which burned part of the Sespe Creek watershed. The Day fire already burned about 60 percent of that watershed, he said. His crews are cleaning out culverts and storm drains, getting ready for any potential backups caused by increased erosion.

The cycle of large fires is routine for everyone who lives near Los Padres National Forest.

"This isn't the first large fire we've had," Toth said of the Zaca fire. "And I'm sure it won't be the last."