I do feel bad about the loss of life and I respect the hard work the fire fightes. But I have very little symapathy for the home owners who lost their homes, since they chose to live there. They chose to ignore the cold hard facts of how mother nature works, and she can go from nice to nasty in a blink of an eye.

Forest fires are a going to happen, its a natural part of the forest ecosystem. There is only two choises, ether put them off untill you get a big nasty fire or you carfully manage several smaller less damaging fires.

If you knowingly build a house in a area with a high water table you ether don't build a basement or invest in a sump pump. So if you build a house in a tinder box, then it stands to reason that you should also take steps to prevent getting burnt. Yes, the person that has to run a sump pump to keep their basment dry pays higher electric bills, but that is the price they pay to live were they do. You ether suck it up or move to higher ground.

If the local "enviromentalist" goverment will not let you take steps to protect your home and family, then ether change the goverment or sell the house while it is still worth something.

Some will say that I have over simplified the issue, but try looking at it this way. Insurance is a piss poor way to "protect" your family and home. Witch would you rather have, a nice warm bed or a cot in a shelter wating for that fat insurance check.