No citations needed Sidd, there is a natural burn cycle of Boreal forests (the kind we have here). As spruce become more dense they eventually burn and are replaced with Birch Etc, then spruce regrow and eventually the cycle repeats itself. However, when a Boreal forest is inhabited by people they don't allow it to burn (for obvious reasons) and that's the powder keg Eddie mentioned. 
Also, I seem to remember hearing exactly what Eddie is saying last year when our fire danger was particularly high. I believe it was an official from AFD calling into Mike Porcaro.