"Just like New Orleans when the high water vehicles were in Iraq, where is California NG heavy equipment that could bulldoze breaks, etc.? Haven't seen this question being asked much yet."

Well that one's easy enough. Everytime there is even a mention of cutting a fire break or removing the underbrush, that fuels so many of the fires in California, the environmentalists go into a rage and/or get a court order to prevent it.

In addition to this, the National Guard are not trained as firefighters. Some of these flames reach 30 to 40 feet high. Combine that with winds up to 70 mph and changing directions frequently and you have a deadly mix.

Oh... incidently... the evacuees need help and many are helping each other along with "first response" teams. I won't go into the questionable judgement of people who choose to do little more than look for someone to blame.