I went on Google Earth and looked at this area. I was surprised to see so little space between the forest and the homes. Everywhere in New England where homes are built on mountains there are usually 20-30 feet on each side of the home to protect the house from tree falls mostly, but it also acts like a firebreak.
What happen in Paradise is tragic, but a lot of it was preventable.
You assume that the enviro-whackos who hold sway in California government allow sensible forest management and tree removal at that level. They do not.
It is difficult to get permission to trim even a 30 foot wide swath of Nature around your "own" property in many places.
In fires like this venue and driven by high winds, 30' means zip nothing.
Red hot embers were being blown horizontally downwind in gusts up to and exceeding 40mph. The fire could barley be outrun and the wind simply starts spot fires far beyond the fire lines. One spark or tiny ember blown under an eve or into a roof vent leading to the attic, and that's it, it's over! And 30', 100' and sometimes "miles" of clearance does no good at all.
Anyone who's experienced a high wind driven wild fires fully understands this. Bottom line, the wind is the #1 enemy in these events.
Yes. It looks like they carved out just enough forest to build a house so it’s still wall to wall trees.