Thursday, November 8th, 2007 — Rapid development in wildfire-prone areas and continued bone-dry weather have alarmed California firefighters, who began a sweeping assessment of fire danger this week and what’s needed to meet it. Catastrophic wildfires that burned across the state last month and in 2003 were of an intensity that should be witnessed rarely -- perhaps once a century, they say. The proximity of those fires has raised fears that furious blazes could become more frequent, threatening lives and property.