Evacuees need to carry their infants, pets, and enough luggage to live for a few days... there’s nowhere near crush-load commute capacity. There is no point to a little town in the woods if it’s going to be urban enough for transit coverage. It really looks like humans just shouldn’t live in places like this.
Towns obliterated by fires just don't happen often enough that we need to make forests "no-go" areas. Even if one town per year were completely destroyed it wouldn't be sufficient justification because there are many such towns and the probability of a specific one being destroyed is still a once in a century event.
