Comment 18 by CEVA34

On the subject of portable fire, my impression has always been that it means glowing embers in a pot, rather than a torch, which could too easily be dropped, or blown out by the wind.

Embers on the end of a thick stick or bunches of dry grass work reasonably well. A breeze makes large embers burn brighter.

Comment 11 by Pete H

It would have only been a small step from this natural scavenging to deliberately triggering artificial bush fires, based on the observation that the charred vegetation opens up clearings in the bush and encourages new grass growth which attracts browsing megafauna while making them very much easier to catch. (Including catching them by starting a fresh bush fire and burning them to death.)

In Chaparral or savanna environments, dry combustible material simply builds up until some human or natural form of ignitions sets the wildfires away.