I know people on Hacker News have no love for multi-level concrete parking garages, but it seems to me that such structures could easily be engineered to withstand the effects of a fire like this one. This way residents could shelter in place, or at least shelter "nearby", in the event of similar massive, fast-moving fires.

If you built structures like this in most every neighborhood, well, I guess they'd be big eyesores, but then, on the other hand, you could get rid of a bunch of on street parking.