I am curious to know - how much was made of the area when your son first moved in? Was it noted to be a high risk location? What were the mitigating factors in the decision (meaning - if it was high risk - because of this we'll buy anyway)? Do they even have high risk fire zones like they do flood zones?

I honestly don't know. They've lived in Rancho Bernardo for 5 years. There was a big wildfire that came fairly close to their home 4 years ago.*

I don't presume to speak for Larry, but I do have observations from many trips to Orange County. Anything that is not in an urban or densely populated area seems to be in a fire risk area.
All you need is a yard.

This does seem to be the case. Not being from southern California, I really don't know.

They own a townhome. In a way, that might reduce their risk. The home has a stucco exterior with a tile roof. That alone reduces the fire danger. In addition, it has an indoor sprinkler system so that might reduce the damage from a fire.

Larry, maybe the information on this page from the Forest Sevice, with a map of active fires, will give you a little more information. Good luck to your son and his family.

The server appears to be down right now. I'll check back later. Thanks for the source.

The unoffical source seems to indicate their home is in the fire area or extremely close to it. The last official map from 0530 this morning seems to indicate their home is just outside the fire zone. However, it lacks enough reference landmarks (e.g. named roads) to be certain. Either way, it's very close if it hasn't actually burned. A lot can happen in a few hours, too, especially when you consider the high winds they're having.

*The fire four years ago happened just a few weeks after we found out my daughter-in-law was pregnant with our first grandchild. I asked my son if Heidi was pregnant again. He kind of paused and said, "Ah, I don't know." They're trying so it could be a funny coincidence.