To be safe, you can really only build back 30% of the homes. 
The houses are really what fueled the fire. Each home caught two more and so on.
So to be truly safe, they need big Fire Breaks through the neighborhoods, free of combustibles, and houses need defensive zones with much more distance between them.
Landscaping really shouldnt have dried brush or dried palms either.

Why dont we practice the same fire management in our neighborhoods as the mountain? 
We built on top of each other in long rows that run in line with the Santa Ana wind field and have no thought to fire precaution and defensive zones down there like the mountain.
That's where the government failed.

Houses need separation, or they will just catch each other on fire again... because the Santa Ana winds can't be voted away, and the constant fire climate cant change w through more politics.