Part of the burned area was a critically important biodiversity reserve, a last stand for numerous endangered species. Each day of fire brought extinctions. The burnt land was further scarred by erosion, without plants to soak up the water. Many people died as rivers left their banks and inundated surrounding lands. Chaparral California may face a fire peril of its own.
Uncontrollable fires are possible, perhaps likely.
The surprising answer is basically, never. Normal is an average, but averages don't tell us much about actual conditions. Most of the time, tropical ocean temperatures and currents are see-sawing in slow motion toward one extreme or the other, in a natural and recurrent cycle that takes years to complete. In a word, it's normal for the ocean to be abnormal. The name stuck.