Fires are crude entropy maximisers. Living systems destroy energy dradients at all scales, resulting in more comprehensive devastation than mere flames can muster.
Of course, maximisation is often subject to constraints. Your complaint is rather like saying that water doesn’t “truly minimise” its altitude—since otherwise it would end up at the planet’s core. That usage is simply not what the terms “maximise” and “minimise” normally refer to.
Fires are crude entropy maximisers. Living systems destroy energy dradients at all scales, resulting in more comprehensive devastation than mere flames can muster.
Of course, maximisation is often subject to constraints. Your complaint is rather like saying that water doesn’t “truly minimise” its altitude—since otherwise it would end up at the planet’s core. That usage is simply not what the terms “maximise” and “minimise” normally refer to.