I'm sorry to hear about the woman and her animals.

As for california and fires that is alot of thier own fault. They have regulated logging and forest clearing so much that you have alot of dry wood and debris. That state is known to make decisions that end up being wrong but take awhile to correct them. (think mountian lions if you think i'm mistake)
Hope they ease their laws on logging and hope that it gets these fires back under control.