On a hill push out your 'managed' area. At the top of a hill with brush and annual grass under your site you may need a 300-foot clearance. Do go through it carefully and remove the dead stuff and thin back the brush to where it is still covering the area but lightly. This usually needs to be done by hand and drug out with ropes. Be careful and not mess the dirt up more than needed or you will have weeds.
Weeds burn hot and fast.
A hillside can burn in seconds. If you are in a bad area you can run microspray irrigation out into the area. Do not water the remaining native plants but water between the plants about three times a summer. They will still burn, but much slower and with less heat. We use them and plants like watered coffeeberry and cottonwood as expendable heat shields, hopefully giving you the time to get out or for fire fighters to save your house.