“We don’t want to burn to death.”
That sentiment and demands for far more prudent wildland development, better firefighting equipment and tougher building codes ring loud and clear from readers after my column reporting that early half of Southern California burned in the last half-century.
But instead of simply flipping to the next digital or print page, dozens of readers jumped online and sent me emails to point out specific problems as well as offer broad solutions.
With readers’ permission to publish their thoughts, here is an edited sampling:
Dave Hubert, Coto de Caza
As a retired firefighter, fire captain, training officer and fire defense coordinator for the Orange County Fire Authority, and after 30 years fighting most of California and Orange County’s major fires, I agree with David Whiting: Something’s wrong.
As a firefighter, I have seen firsthand what the issue is: “Burnables.”
As a fire captain, I have felt the issue. As a wildland fire manger, I have tried to plan for anything that could help control burnables.
Today’s fires not only move from wildland areas to structures, they move from structure-to-structure because of burnables.
More than once my crew and I have stood with a $250,000 fire engine watching a million-dollar structure burn to the ground because we had no water — but we had shovels.
More than once we conducted fire inspections of homes in wildland areas that required brush clearance — although we knew if fire came the home would be a loser due to its combustible/burnable construction!
More than once we hoped to oversee small, controlled burns to lessen fire exposure, yet were overwhelmed with paperwork from environmentalists, air quality folks and insurance red tape!
More than once we tried to get developers to use non-combustible building materials, only to hear “it’s too expensive!”
More than once we faced politicians with complaints from developers that our fire requirements were too restrictive!
More than once we discussed fire danger with folks who thought, “This will not happen here.”
I think things are getting better, especially here in Orange County, due to awareness. But statewide, there is much to be addressed. The laws are outdated, weak and enforcement is non-existent.
More time and funding is needed to prevent fires.
Robert Anton, Simi Valley
Since people are not going to give up their “view properties,” we should better equip fire departments with more planes and helicopters so they can aggressively attack fires with immediate and full force from the air.
On days of extreme risk — like low humidity or high winds — planes and helicopters should already be on the tarmac with pilots and strike teams to combat fire before it gets larger.
We need to make adjustments on the way we attack fires, not continue with the broken system we obviously have.
Winifred Higgins, Calimesa, Riverside County
I look out the window and see once pristine hills dotted with large homes and more and more beautiful land sold for commercial use. It’s only a matter of time before the structures burn.
David Sawyer, Brea
Fire codes for clearance around structures should be written and enforced. The structures themselves should be designed not to burn.
Linda Burns, Fullerton
Our youngest son is a firefighter and he’s told me about having to notify residents to clear debris and having to issue citations when people don’t comply. One would think the homeowners would figure this out without having to use our resources.
My husband and I wonder why so many can’t see the problems with building in high fire areas. I always pray for our son’s safe return when wildfires break out.
Karolyn Zebarth, Fountain Valley
California needs to back off the bullet train and purchase several mothballed big planes from that base in Arizona, retrofit them to drop phosphate and station them centrally in the state so that as soon as a big fire starts, they are on it!
Also, higher insurance rates will slow building houses in fire prone areas and every city should make and enforce strict trimming laws.
Ray Martinez, Stanton
Are we dumb to allow all this building to continue? Yes. The developers are greedy, the bankers are greedy, the government is greedy. I love nature, the woods and have hiked, fished and camped in many places. But I would never think of living in those places.
Bryan Hutcheson, Coto de Caza
Of all things, a neighbor of mine has a forest of towering pine trees. The fire department tells me there is nothing they can do about it. New — and maybe existing homes in high fire areas — should have to clear all trees and have a fire-retardant foam system installed. In 2002, a wildfire burned to Coto’s border and one structure was destroyed.
Matt Gaffney, San Juan Capistrano
Controlled burns and fire breaks are no longer. Too bad, they worked.
Jay Perrine, Long Beach
Every year we do the same thing to deal with fire, and every year we get beat. What we have to do is overwhelm the fire. One DC-10 dropping retardant along with several helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft is just the usual same-o, same-o.
If I were king, I’d either overwhelm a fire with retardant and water or use one of two technologies to suck away oxygen from the fire. One technology is using multiple sonic bombs dropped from multiple aircraft to deprive oxygen to large areas of an advancing fire — this is how oil well fires are extinguished.
Another technology is to use sonic booms from a fleet of aircraft breaking the sound barrier which would lay down a large suppression wave to deny oxygen. Then, I’d follow up with large-scale drops of fire retardant and water. This is what “overwhelming” fire is about. Nothing less.
Nethe Stevenson, Laguna Woods
Why can’t we have a “fire plane” parking lot with planes ready to take off in an instant when there is a report of a fire? Think of the property and lives saved. Otherwise it seems like our brave, angel firefighters are forced to put out forest fires with garden hoses.
Randy Fruechting, Orange
We need to create buffer areas, and there is a lack of state and local agencies properly managing our wilderness areas. It seems there are no more controlled burns and other actions to minimize fuel build-up.
