My sister lives in San Diego and has both cars and the house insured with Snake Farm so the state did not tell Snake Farm to not write or keep policies in CA.

Most states do that to protect the consumers who are most vulnerable/at highest risk. It is the same reason that many states require companies to make all of their products available in a state, instead of just some products. For example, you can't sell auto in FL unless you also sell home (if you offer a home product). The FL auto market is very desirable. The FL home market is the worst. Companies are willing to walk away from the FL auto market just to get out of the FL home market because the home market has gotten so bad. No one really foresaw how bad home in CA and FL was going to get, so rules that were in place to protect consumers (and did just that) are now backfiring.

[quoteGreat, they think they are protecting a smaller group of people but make the larger group suffer. [/quote]

Kind of like jacking rates up in WI because CA burns and FL gets blown away by storms?

I don't quite understand how these fires are spreading in these neighborhoods. I see pictures and videos of houses that have burnt, but all of the trees in the yards still have their leaves on them. I don't get it? Do these houses have very dry, flammable roofs or something?

Fire can get up under the eaves and ignites the structure. If you've ever been close to a house fire, it's intense. The heat depending on how close the houses are, can get the next house to go up without actual flame hitting.

Toss in the high winds and embers everywhere.

It looks like all of those fires are in the Hollywood hills, which start at the coast at Point Magu and extend along the southern side of San Fernando valley and stop between Hollywood and Pasadena Very brushy and no preventative measure (brush clearing around their properties ) by any homeowners that I can remember

My cousin's house in Altadena is only about 2 blocks from the Eaton fire perimeter. They evacuated a few days ago and are stuck having to that it doesn't get any closer.

Wind gusts are up to 100MPH...
The burrning embers are flying 2-3 miles and landing starting more fires,
out pacing the fire department teams.....

Just my $0.02....

Just saw on the news that the Insurance Commissioer has blocked the policy cancellations.
I'd bet that's going to Court...

Buddy of mine - retired SoCal firefighter - says those winds make fire-fighting all but impossible.
Obvious enough to me, but apparently not to everyone.

lack of land/forrestry and home management, Kali-fornia has no interest in it, as it might impede on sea dragons, turtles, tree frogs or purple haired fruits and nuts, research why this home survived the Hawaiian wind/power line fueled fires a few years ago

my sister's family is in LA near the 405 and 10 fwy. They have hosted 2 family's that had to evacuate - and then evacuate again from their first evacuation destination. People are upset the evacuations were grid lock with no law enforcement at all to direct traffic. Many ended up abandoning their cars and walking. Yes - the empty reservoirs are not a good look when there is no water in the hydrants to fight fires. I also learned that the "smart" homes have lots of lithium batteries inside that burn furiously when the houses catch fire. Anyway, it just sucks out there.

I'm lazy this morning, what is the Cliff's Notes explanation for this home surviving?

"A house in Lahaina, Maui, survived the wildfires largely due to recent renovations that included installing a commercial-grade metal roof and surrounding the base of the house with river stones, which likely prevented embers from igniting nearby vegetation, effectively creating a "defensible space" around the structure; this home is often referred to as the "miracle house" by locals. "

Thank you. It seems like assuming the worst and preparing for it ends well while assuming the best and not preparing at all results in a different ending.

"Miracle", as in the owners did something to protect their home and it worked.

Am I victim-blaming the ones who lost their homes? Definitely not.

I'm pretty sure that gridlock abandon car deal only happened on one street in Palisades.

These canyons have narrow access roads and sometimes even one road out. They do that to keep through traffic out of their neighborhoods. Some are even private gated streets.

I know there's some streets have been closed off in that area to prevent traffic from taking shortcuts over the years.

Saving residential properties is one thing..
But..
What about saving the people...
The Maui disaster had more than 100 fatalities...
At last count for the fires in SoCal the total was 24...

Just my $0.02....

I would say dammmmm good odds that number will rise as recovery moves forward for the LA area