Good morning.

Today, we’re starting with a dispatch from my colleague Thomas Fuller, who is based in the Bay Area:

Five months ago, we brought you the story of the rancher in Mendocino County who inadvertently started the largest wildfire in California history when he hammered a stake into a wasp’s nest.

I was surprised to learn last week that his home nearly burned — again — in the latest round of wind-driven fires in Northern California. Flames from the Burris fire, which was extinguished Nov. 3, scorched the sloping fields around the rancher’s wood-shingled home, coming very close to engulfing the wraparound porch.

“It took great effort on firefighters’ part to defend that structure this time,” said Tricia Austin, a fire prevention specialist with Cal Fire in Mendocino County. “Without the engine providing protection it very well could have been lost.”