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That's partially due to the philosophical difference imparted at one point by Franklin's American frontier mentality...now known as the Rurban-suburban interface. In my RE appraisal days, when dealing with FEMA in the Santa Cruz mountains-practically my domain, we didn't just have the Loma Prieta earthquake; but also the Lexington Hills fire and the fatal Charing Cross Rd. Oakland Hills fire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_firestorm_of_1991http://articles.latimes.com/1985-07-10/news/mn-7612_1_homes-near-san-jose and the small but nasty Palo Alto Hills fire. A Cal Fire chief lives on my street in Napa and the Napa Sonoma hills-Mayacamas mountains are just two blocks over and will burn in their turn when the conditions are right- of that there is no doubt. Small, spread-out and interlocking mutual support is the modus operendi for wind-swept dry manzaninta, second growth redwood and large propane tank fueled infernos. As for FEMA in the other thread today: love 'em!!! they rebuilt (chimney & foundation-$40 K) my house after (2) Napa Quakes and I've contributed my files as needed (maintained for 5 years) for victims of quakes and fires: those front, rear and any interior photos with precise sketch addendum dimensions really count and were often the only good pics left for the FEMA assessment teams. NO CHARGE BBY! The last Napa quake in August is at 1 billion in damage! Yeah, FEMA can be slow, thorough and bureaucratic but still the only game goin' when the game's up and it's all 'hit the fan.' And they get there "firstest with the mostest" and stay the distance!