Concrete and tile . . .
Concrete doesn't burn, and neither does steel. However, cast in place concrete is a hugely expensive material to build with due to the hand labor required to construct the formwork and install reinforcing steel, and has terrible insulation properties as well. Concrete block is a bit cheaper, but still expensive once you factor in all the steel, and it still has poor insulation value. In the right climate, thermal mass can be used to offset the insulation issue but you don't need concrete in all of the walls to do this. Concrete is also far from a green material in that producing it makes lots of CO2, and the weight of concrete walls requires even more concrete in the foundation. I love the look of properly done cast in place concrete, but I doubt I'll ever get to design such a building due to the costs and environmental issues.
Most roof tiles today are made of lightweight concrete or fiber-cement and aren't much of a problem structurally. A tile roof on a wood-framed stucco building is a pretty good way to go in fire-prone areas, especially if you have minimal, sealed overhangs and ventilate the attic through roof vents with louvers and screens.
One issue rarely talked about is the popularity of vinyl windows. They're cheaper to make than wood, don't rot, and have good thermal properties, but at some point the vinyl will melt and once the glass falls out all bets are off. I have no idea if this has been a factor in some of the damage here. I don't like vinyl windows because they rarely look as good as a real wood window, and in a fire I think I'd put my money on an aluminum-clad wood window. I might be wrong on the latter point though . . . I'd really love to see some research on the matter. All-metal windows are certainly the best for fire resistance but they're expensive and must have thermal breaks in the frame and sash if they're to have decent insulation properties.
Regarding using sprinkler systems to stop fires, I once worked on a house on a two-acre hillside site next to a state park which had special provisions for just that. The system worked like this: if activated either manually or by special sensors, the sprinkler system would turn all zones on full force. If the system dectected low water pressure, then it would switch on a pumping system to draw water from the pool. In the event of a power failure, a generator system would start up to power the pumps. Needless to say, this was not a low-budget house and the owner was a computer guy who understood how to keep the system up.
