"…what will you do to save your…home?"

Editor:

First, a big thanks to Stu Saffer for writing an excellent and fact filled article about fire risks here in Laguna. (Some Streets at Higher Risk in Wildfires, LB Indy July 20, 2008)

I am at once alarmed by three things noted in the article. One, complacency (guilty), two, the fire department's advice, "It's not our intent to scare anyone," and three, the fact environmental concerns have trumped safety concerns at the highest level of our city.

I believe residents and property owners here will remain complacent unless our fire department personnel do something to scare us. We should be scared! We must become proactive in protecting against a wildfire.

We all live, to one degree or another, adjacent to wildlands with highly flammable fuel and/or in close proximity to highly flammable fuel in our own neighborhoods. And if not adjacent to wild-lands, we probably live on a hillside subject to a slope-driven fire, which can be equally as dangerous as a wildfire.

Mr. Saffer notes the environmentalists and fire department personnel believe "siting" of homes in indefensible areas is a problem. Well, the city allowed it. It's a done deal. The city can't un-ring that bell. When a city enables building in indefensible, even defensibly impaired areas, it has certain obligation to mitigate compromised safety its building policies permit.

And, in my opinion, not just a little mitigation.

The devastating loss of property in the firestorm of 1993 should have been a wake-up call. Instead, the city defended its policies.

Our fire department personnel rightfully "urged residents to help protect their own homes…" And, since the recommended clearing of brush 30, 100, or 300 feet from most homes here is not practical, we need to find alternative prevention solutions.

The city's fire department has acknowledged fire protection service to over 125 streets here to be impaired with some properties deemed indefensible. If city fire protection service cannot be counted on, what can you, what will you do to save your property, your home?

A group of concerned citizens has arranged to use council chambers, Saturday, Sept 20, 2008 beginning at 9 a.m. for a public meeting to permit fire protection service and products companies to inform about their services and products.

Mark your calendar; plan to attend to learn what you can do. Christopher Toy Laguna Beach