I do it here for many reasons similar to that. Driving the plants/dead matter away is costly, a wood chipper is also expensive as you said, and I can use the material in two ways: I use it either as kindling for cooking/heating up my pizza oven, or I burn the material to get ash and charcoal for the compost heap. Such valuable additions that we can have for free!
Yes, it is really bad and the wind only relights the fires they successfully put out. Such a shame, but fire is not always bad. Our local flora, the Fynbos (fine bush) needs fire to spread its seeds. So fire, in balance, is good.
I hope you are doing well.
Yes of course, fire is part of the ecosystem as everything else but as you said, in balance.
All is fine here!
Cheers