Every year irresponsible people are responsible for accidentally starting forest fires - remember the Smoky the Bear PSAs? There is nothing unusual about that from a historical perspective. There is also a statistical number of fire bugs who start fires annually. Again, not a new phenomenon. There are far more fires that have been precipitated by lightning strikes than by any human activity.
Two things are driving the intensity and numbers of fires on the west coast this year:
1) Extended dry hot weather and high winds
2) High accumulations of tinder dry biomass in the forests
Whether climate change or weather cycles are to blame for #1 is an argument for the scientific community. Personally, I think it's a bit of both.
The cause of the overabundance of biomass on the forest floor is indisputable. It's not being removed. Unless it's removed, there will be more large conflagrations whenever sustained heat and dryness creates ideal fire conditions. Either we undertake controlled burns in the spring, when there is more precipitation and the fires can be contained and also thin out the forest stands OR we let nature take its course and lose millions of acres of forest. There is no in between solution.