Last year, many of the houses that burned down in Malibu were miles from the nearest wildfires. It turns out that burning embers can travel miles in the right w

Last year, many of the houses that burned down in Malibu were miles from the nearest wildfires. It turns out that burning embers can travel miles in the right wind conditions. And pasture land is the worst type of buffer, since dry grass burns easily, and quite hot. NorCal, for example, has lots of pasture land, especially in wine country, and that is one of the reasons that Santa Rosa and Napa have been hit with major fires every year for the past 3 years. There are existing ways to protect a town from burning down, largely related to building designs and materials. The problem is that these all cost money, and the type of people that live in these high-risk mountain towns generally don't have the money to incorporate those features into their buildings.