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In a barren desert, surrounded by limitless horizon, there stands a 700 mile perforated barrier separating the haves and the have not's. The sun sets along this rusty fence as a crusty old veteran puffs a cigarette and lowers his binoculars. The day is over, but the cold night is theirs. He lowers the flag, salutes a helicopter passing through the darkness, and settles into his dusty camper for another canned meal alone on Patriot Point.

John Davis and Lorrie Brown, who run an architecture firm in Ojai, Calif., knew they were constructing a home in a dangerous spot when they decided to live on 27 acres in the hills of Ventura County, where the Thomas Fire destroyed more than 1,000 structures last year. But unlike many of their neighbors, the couple had a home to go back to after evacuations were over. They had designed it with fire in mind: rather than a typical wooden frame, the home has bones of steel. The decking is made out of a hardwood that burns little better than concrete. Where other homes might have grass, they have gravel, with landscaping setting the home back from ground cover that carries blazes from place to place. There are even fire doors that can be pulled like barn doors to create a "hard shell" protecting the structure from hot embers.