[Synchro909]

On last night's news service, they showed a house bursting into flames as the fire approached. The kind of roofing material you guys use doesn't help in these conditions. NO ONE here uses that bitumen based stuff for ANYTHING. I think it would be banned in a fire prone area. I live in a declared fire prone area and to build a house, there are certain materials that must be used and others banned. On the roof for example, everybody here uses either tiles (made of Terra Cotta or concrete) or steel treated to prevent rust. Exterior walls are usually brick.
I'm sure that greater attention to the materials used and the way houses are built would reduce the impact of fires just as houses built to withstand a tornado would reduce their impact. Regulators probably won't be able to act quickly enough to reduce the fire hazard of homes but now is the time to take action for future fires (and there will be more). It is up to the people who live in those areas to take preventative action for their own sake (and their children). Please do. I don't intend to lecture but we live in an area just as bad for fires as California and that has been our choice.
After bad fries here in the 1980's, I know of people who built their houses underground. No heating bills, no cooling bills and no danger from fires again. Sounds sensible to me!