1 The creepy thing for me is that, not too long ago, History Channel ran one of their "Mega Disasters" scare-pieces about a Santa Ana wildfire sweeping through San Diego.

2

When I first moved to San Diego, I was surprised by the fact that all the houses had terra cotta tile roofs. In earthquake territory, you'd think that wouldn't be such a good idea.

But the reason for it is because of fire danger. A roof made of tar paper, which is what is normal here in the Portland area, would be a horrible fire danger in San Diego. Burning embers blown by the wind which fall on a terra cotta roof are much less likely to make the house start burning.

So tile roofs are required by the building code.

3

They also look better combined with the stucco-on-lathe exterior that's been dominant in the Southwest since the late 80's early 90's. The tiles stand up to the punishing sunlight a little better as well. The only thing you have to worry about is the underlayment (still often tar-soaked felt or a rubber membrane) decaying. Shingles just shrivel up after a few years here in Phoenix.

4 Has a wildfire ever swept through an actual city before?

5 Of course. Many times. Chicago burned, for instance. Mrs. O'Leary's cow, remember?

6 The Canberra bushfires of 2003 destroyed over 500 homes and the Mount Stromlo Observatory, but fortunately only took 4 lives.

7

San Diego had huge fires in 2003, too; I blogged about it at the time. Last time the Mt. Palomar observatory was threatened. This time it doesn't look like it's in danger. The fire would have to move a considerable distance upwind to get to it.

But anything can happen when it comes to this stuff.

8

There was the fire after the San Francisco quake of 1906 also, but I didn't mention it or Chicago, because I assumed the question was about wildfires moving in from the country to the city, rather than starting within the city itself.  If you want to include those, there's a loooong history including London and Rome. 

If you want to include war-caused, there's Dresden, Atlanta, Tokyo...

9 There's also talk of moving the Chargers game to Arizona like in 2003, because the stadium's parking lot is being used to house people again.

10 Yeah, I did mean "rural wildfires that moved into the city."  Though Chicago would count ( anything that starts in a barn counts as rural ).

11

metaphysician:  Never been to Houston, eh?  We've got a couple of barns right down there on the South Loop.  'Course, we calls 'em "Reliant Stadium" and "th' Astrodome"*, but hey, a barn's a barn, whether the cows y'keep in it are sacred or not!

*Actually, you could argue it is a barn for two weeks every year, during the Texas Livestock Show and Rodeo.

12 Up till very recently, if you wanted meat and produce in town, you had to keep some livestock there.  It would not surprise me if the o leary cow had been in a built up urban area.  Besides, a shack in the alley behind your building is much more of a fire hazard then a properly built and sited barn in the suburbs or a rural area.

13 It's pretty scary, but the evacuation seems to have been carried out well enough.  Around 1000 homes and other buildings destroyed, but only one death reported.

14

There have been several deaths. Earlier today I saw a report which identified 5 deaths, but three of those were people who were over 90 years old, who simply don't handle excitement and rapid movement well. Any death is sad, but I don't think it's quite the same when someone who's 92 dies as if it were a child or young adult.

What worries me more is that a handful of firefighters suffered severe burns. A couple of them are critical, which may mean that if they survive they'll be maimed for life.

15 Oh.  The report I was looking at must have been out of date.  Which doesn't take long in a situation like this.  And I hope for the best for the firefighters, but burns are bad news.

16

(OK, figured out again how to register...)

The Oakland (CA) Firestorm of 1991, destroyed over 3,000 dwellings, killed 25 people, and injured about 150. 

I was across the Bay at Candlestick, and we had to stand up every few minutes and brush the ashes off our laps.