I haven't lived in CA for over a decade, and I never did really have my finger on the pulse of the state level politics. But to cast the problem of insuring wildfires as a political loser because of class bias against a bunch of irresponsible mansion owners in Hollywood is not a good read.
With respect, I think most everyone in SoCal recognizes the communal fire hazard. You've said that people in Florida know very well about hurricanes and flooding. Well, same in fire prone areas. Floridians aren't naturally smarter than Californians or Westerners in general. I don't think this fire is terribly surprising to anyone who has lived out west for any period of time. We've all seen big fires destroy communities of all sizes and income brackets. This one happened to hit Malibu and Brentwood hard, and makes for some riveting press coverage and outrage from people that are finally waking up to the problem. But it's not really anything we've never seen before or didn't know was possible. If you are from Michigan or Florida, the lack of water and the nature of these problems might be inconceivable and you'd assume someone must have messed up badly or acted with malice to allow such a tragedy. But that's not necessarily true.
Paradise, CA wasn't a millionaire elitist enclave. And I don't recall anybody bickering over why the municipal water supply wasn't enough to contain the blaze and protect the community. And the only people expecting the municipal water supply to be sufficient now either have an axe to grind or are horribly out of touch as to the nature of the problem.
In NM, certainly the folks in Ruidoso, and Las Vegas (not NV), affected by recent fires are not well-to-do areas. Just the opposite for some of the areas impacted.
The communities burned by the Park fire in CA last year similarly weren't a bunch of elites. People are losing their insurance all over the place, or having rates go up far from fire areas. The people most impacted are those who can't afford enormous premium hikes. I think there could be more support for a state-level effort to stabilize the markets by being a last-resort provider than you assume. At least if it was done correctly.
