Hello, Beth.
I had seen a photo of this home a few days ago, thanks for posting.
When I lived in the Sierra foothills, there was a major fire that went through a community about fifteen miles south of me (this was a few years before the Paradise fire).
I commuted from my foothills home to my job in the Central Valley for many years, part of the commute took me along the outskirts of where this fire burned. Many homes were lost, but there were a few still standing. All of those that remained had wide areas of short-cropped green grass around them, no brush or landscaping (or piles of firewood) near or against the house (no near outbuildings, either) - and all had metal roofs. These were also wood-frame homes, all of them probably more than 25 years old.
It definitely told a story.
Of course, a metal roof is considerably more expensive than an asphalt shingle roof (in addition to being fire resistant, a metal roof will also last a lot longer than an asphalt roof).
Today, there is also a product called fiber cement siding that is often molded to have "wood grain". When it is painted, it is not easy at first glance to tell it is not actually wood.
And yet homes are still being built using wooden siding in the urban/wildland interface.
"It’s the only type of siding that combines the performance of masonry—minimal upkeep; rot-, fire-, and termite-proof; unaffected by wind or cold—with the look of painted wood clapboards, shingles, even stone or brick." https://www.thisoldhouse.com/siding/21017880/all-about-fiber-cement-sidingIf you factor in the cost of installation it is more expensive than wooden siding. But is definitely what I would want should I ever be so lucky to move back to a rural area.
Anne