being surrounded by light fuels is not a big deal. as long as you have a roof that is not combustible and perhaps surrounded by a little open green lawn or gravel, and the firewood pile away from the house, open plains are a great place to subdivide. (defensible space) there are some who build off the grid on ridges in N. Cal. and have large water tanks and a prepositioned sprinkler system to wet the area around their homes, not depending upon fire fighters. they work as long as the fuel depth (height of the vegetation) is kept very low.
i agree totally with the rest of your post as well.
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