I dont live in or near California, but I am constantly seeing
disasters in that state which in my opinion are due to stupidity in
construction. Why so the building inspectors allow buildings to be
built on steep hillsides? How many of these homes have slid down the
hills in recent years? From watching the news, it would seem that
there have been many. Now we have this firestorm. I do understand
that the firestorm is a natural disaster (except those intentionally
set according to the news reports).

The part that gets me is why are so many homes burning? We live in a
time when every wirenut in our electrical system needs to be approved,
and we can not even erect a simple shed without some sort of approval
to insure it's safe. Installing a wood stove involves a major amount
of paperwork, inspections, and most insurance companies won't even
allow them without a huge increase in the cost of the policy.

I do understand that we all need to be safe, and the average homeowner
needs to be inspected since most people do not know proper building
methods, and there are lots of professional contractors who want to
make an extra buck and use inferior materials or cut corners which can
be a safety risk. At the same time, some of these rules can be
rediculous and very nit-picky, causing added expense and hassles to
the home owner.

With that said, it seems that the biggest reasons for these major
fires in CA are not faulty wiring or causes INSIDE the home, but these
firestorms. Therefore, would it not make sense to require a certain
amount of open (mowed) space around buildings in areas prone to these
firestorms, or at least prevent them from burning the buildings.

It seems to me that the inspectors overdo it as far as small details
within homes but ignore the external causes. Not everyone is the
country is in a firestorm area, but those that are should be reqired
to maintain some space. This only makes sense.