(T)his will have profound economic consequences for the country in the form of increased costs of insurance, if it is even available, and that will further push up the price of homes.

(E)ven though on the face of things this may look like a bunch of rich folks taking a hit, no, that hit will be put on us.

Socialism for the rich, capitalism for everyone else. That really is the American system.

No doubt. That's the way it always seems to go. Covid was another classic example - record profits for corporations (& corrupt scientists that caused/covered-up Covid) - a cost of living crisis for everyone else.

As an ex-firefighter, i'm curious as to how it managed to burn so far into populated areas. If it's in forest & the wind is up, there's not a lot you can do. Ideally, you'd be looking at the weather forecast & backburning where you can before it arrives, then waterbombing the homes like crazy. I understand the conditions were extreme, but '12 000 structures damaged or destroyed' - you'd be hoping to limit the damage to way less than that.