This is happening already, it has happened to my neighbors. As resident of CA in a neighborhood which previously was not, but now probably is, 'fire prone' I fully expect to hear from my insurance company to provide evidence of defendable space and other modifications to minimize the likelihood of structure fire.

I've read that once more than about 5-10 house were on fire, there was really no hope of containment, due to the orientation of the streets relative to the wind, the proximity of houses, and the intensity of the wind. Thus the key is prevention -- not letting the wild land fire get to the first 5-10 houses.