[sammyg2]

While we're at it, lets go after people who build houses at the base of volcanoes.
Do they still have lahar drills in some of the public schools up there?

I remember something about a fire in Oakland a couple decades ago, here's what wiki said about it:

The fire ultimately killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1,520 acres (6.2 kmē) destroyed included 3,354 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion.[1]

Fires happen all over the place, every year. So Cal just gets the most press coverage.

How about we bag on people who build houses near forests? They can burn too.

The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington, on June 6, 1889.

In the fall of 1851, the Denny Party arrived at Alki Point in what is now the state of Washington. After spending a miserable winter on the western shores of Elliot Bay, the party relocated to the eastern shores and established the settlement that would become Seattle. Early Seattle was dominated by the logging industry. The combination of a safe bay and an abundance of coniferous trees made Seattle the perfect location for shipping lumber to California. In 1852, Henry Yesler began construction of the first steam-powered mill in the Pacific Northwest.[2] Because of the easy access to lumber, nearly every building was constructed of the affordable, but flammable timber. Additionally, because the area was at or below sea level, the fledgling town was a frequent victim of massive floods, requiring buildings to be built on wooden stilts. The town also used hollowed out scrap logs propped up on wooden braces as sewer and water pipes, contributing to what could be described as a firetrap.

Events of the fire
Aftermath of Seattle fire of June 6, 1889 looking east at the ruins of the Occidental Hotel at corner of James St. and Yesler Way.

On the afternoon of June 6, 1889, John E. Back , a worker in Victor Clairmont's cabinet-making shop near Front Street and Madison Avenue, was heating glue over a gasoline fire. Sometime around 2:30 pm, the glue boiled over and caught fire. The fire soon spread to the wood chips and turpentine covering the floor. Back attempted to douse the fire with water which only served to spread the fire further. The fire department arrived by 2:45, but by that time the area was so smokey that the source of the fire could not be determined. At first it was assumed to have begun in the paint shop above Clairmont's woodworking shop and the Seattle newspaper erroneously ran this story the next day.[5]

Spread of fire

Fed by the shop’s timber and an unusually dry summer, the blaze erupted and shortly devoured the entire block. The fire quickly spread north to the Kenyon block and the nearby Madison and Griffith blocks.

A combination of ill-preparedness and unfortunate circumstances contributed to the great fire. Seattle’s water supply was insufficient in fighting the inferno. Fire hydrants were sparsely located on every other street, usually connected to small pipes. There were so many hydrants in use during the fire that the water pressure was too weak to fight such a massive blaze. Seattle also operated by a volunteer fire department, which was competent, but inadequate in extinguishing the fire.

Magnitude of destruction

By the morning of June 7, the fire had burned the majority of 25 city blocks, including the entire business district, four of the city’s wharves, and its railroad terminals.