Politicians, Builders Villains in Roof Fires
In the midst of a sweltering heat wave of 114-degree temperatures a week ago, fires were raging out of control from Santa Barbara to Glendale, from Carbon Canyon to Cleveland National Forest.
Arsonists were the primary culprits. However, TV commentators described cedar shake roofs as “the villain” responsible for destroying 32 homes in Glendale.
I never heard a roof described as a “villain” before. I always thought the term was used to describe the “bad guy” in some soap opera or TV melodrama.
Shouldn’t the word villain be reserved for the local politicians who have served greedy, self-serving developers and shake manufacturers for years by giving them the right to use dangerous, highly inflammable, cedar shake material on homes that one day would burn to the ground?
Haven’t our local officials and building industry sold us a bill of goods? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for pushing the hazardous material that has cost untold millions in property damages and caused Southland residents untold misery?
It’s time residents take this issue to heart. It’s time to “turn up the heat” on our politicians and make them pass fire safety measures that will protect us.
In the last decade, more than 60,000 Americans have died in fires, exceeding the entire death toll of the Vietnam War.
FRANK KAZERSKI
Orange
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