Malibu Surfside News
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• The Publisher’s Notebook
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Malibu Town Hall: Some Burning Questions
If Malibuites don’t show up for the
face-to-face with firefighting and law enforcement agency
representatives at next week’s town hall and ask tough
questions, they have no one else to blame if they don’t
like the way things are handled when their neighborhood is the
next one to burn. Residents in areas that have not experienced
wildfire in decades should be especially concerned as Southern
California faces another year of drought, record heat and
frequent winds in the 50 mph-plus range. In the past, after a
major conflagration, public agencies somberly listened to the
concerns of those who lost their homes while nearly everyone
else breathed a sigh of relief and cocooned. As humans are wont
to do with disaster, most Malibuites thought wildfire was an
if, not a when. But now that wildfire is a year-round
phenomenon and public agencies are caught in the economic
turmoil besetting all government entities, those who live
in the wildland interface have to think proactively about
wildfire preparedness. The upcoming town forum is an ideal
place to start this process if it is not already part of your
Malibu playbook.
Private wildfire preparedness is
impossible, however, if public agencies don’t level
with residents on the degree of their own preparedness. The
biggest reality check is an honest assessment of what kind of
agency response a resident can expect in a firestorm. Is it
possible to look at a map and say that, given one set of
conditions, the odds might be 60 percent for one home, while
the house at the top of a steep, narrow road might only score
38 percent? People need honest answers about this. Officials
can try to say that it’s impossible to predict in the
abstract, but fire experts make probability assessments all the
time. Also critical is a clear explanation of evacuation
procedures. Can there be mandatory evacuation if the law does
not require a citizen to leave his home? How is that
reconcilable with Corral Fire report assertions that evacuating
residents impeded the flow of fire department equipment? The
fire department can’t have it both ways. Since wildfires
don’t claim lives the way floods do, why do we not
differentiate?
The bottom line is that we are the ones who
will be here when the next fire strikes, not the talking heads
at a town hall. We have to make clear what our concerns are and
that it is our intention to act on them politically. Residents
have to be prepared to pressure government for more money and
equipment. Too often, a few people show up at forums, shout a
bit and then it’s business as usual. If Malibuites let
that happen, there will ultimately be another major
conflagration in a different part of the community and the
results will be just as devastating. Pack the Performing Arts
Center next Wednesday at 7 p.m. and speak up for Malibu.
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