I once lived in a small city in the mountains above 7K feet which had a huge fire. A resident I knew happened to rake up all the pine needles in her yard the day before the fire. Her house was the only one left on the block afterwards.
Pine needles are a great mulch, but they are not recommended in the Western US because of fire if you live anywhere close to woods or fields.
Dry pine mulch in flowerbeds around your house when a wildfire starts sending burning embers ahead of the flames will burn your house. They burn very vigorously and they are far easier to ignite in comparison to wood mulch.