Chuck is on to something. He shares the empathy of all of us for California. It's natural to discuss what-ifs and why after tragedy. Fires and floods where people live is a complex social issue. For many reasons---taxes, privacy, exclusivity, aesthetics, improved social structures etc---we continue to spread out over flood plains and forest tinder boxes and build communities under airport runway approaches and complain of the noise. I don't think it has to come to concrete bunkers for those who want to live among trees. Why does it have to be towering pines? A carefully culled renewable resource of smaller pines would be safer and as pleasing from any perspective. A municipal by-law would do it.