the fire this time

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez28oct28235636,1,421899.stor
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STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WEST/L.A. TIMES.
No Way Out When Home Is in 'Firebelt'
Steve Lopez

October 28, 2003

With half of Southern California ablaze in a spectacular series of
killer infernos, and no end in sight, it's only natural to want the
arsonists tracked down and tied to the nearest tree.

But arson, suspected in at least two fires, isn't the only culprit in
all this death and destruction. In part, we're witnessing the inevitable
consequence of insane land management, and generations of public
officials rolling over for developers despite past lessons.

"We keep putting tens of thousands of homes in harm's way," said author
Mike Davis.

The UC Irvine history professor's scorching books have assailed Southern
California as an apocalyptic theme park, always courting disaster. In
"Ecology of Fear," Chapter 3 is called "The Case for Letting Malibu
Burn." It's a history of California's failure to conduct preventive
burns, despite the growth of "firebelt suburb populations" on the edge
of combustible vegetation.

Homeowner groups resist preventive burns because they're risky and leave
scars, but then scream for help when fire rages out of control, Davis
argues. The public cost is huge; so is the risk to firefighters.

Davis, of San Diego, watched distraught Scripps Ranch residents await
firetrucks as flames approached their multimillion-dollar homes. This
was a huge base of support for smaller government, and for Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Davis said.

"Now all that stands between them and an ash pile is the car tax," which
Schwarzenegger promised to cut back, even though it helps pays for fire
protection.

Davis said he learned about fire from a man who has studied it for 30
years.

"What we're seeing is a vicious circle that will not be breeched without
fundamental changes," said Richard Minnich, a UC Riverside professor.

Minnich says northern Baja California has far fewer large fires despite
similar vegetation and terrain. Why? Baja grasslands are used for
grazing, and patches of chaparral are allowed to burn periodically,
which together make big fires rare.

Minnich said California fire officials avoid badly needed preventive
burns because they can be sued if structures are accidentally lost.
"We'll never get anywhere without this liability being lifted," he said,
arguing that someone who chooses to live near a firetrap should accept
the risk. "They're practically living in gasoline."

Not all the structures destroyed this week were nuzzled up to wild lands
- fierce winds carried fire into neighborhoods thought to be safe.

But we wouldn't have had so many homes and lives in harm's way if
planners and politicians didn't cave to developers.

Or if insurance companies discouraged people from living in high-danger
areas by sticking them with the entire cost of the risk, instead of
spreading it to the rest of us.

Or if the Federal Emergency Management Agency focused on disasters that
can't be predicted, like tornadoes, instead of spending millions to bail
out those who choose to live in flood plains or on the edge of natural
kindling.

Davis thinks this could grow into California's fire of the century,
which he predicted in 1998. "The exponential growth of housing in
foothill firebelts," he wrote in "Ecology of Fear," "increases the
likelihood of several simultaneous conflagrations."

On Monday, Davis said friends had been burned out and relatives were
preparing to evacuate, and it's remarkable there hasn't been more death.
He captured the horror and madness in a single sentence:

"We're building homes in places where there's no fire escape at all." 

------------------------
Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxx &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine