The Fire That Didn’t Get Away : Thanks to brilliant Los Angeles firefighters and safety-first Sylmar homeowners

Could it have been another Oakland?

The conditions were certainly similar to some extent in Sylmar early Monday when the largest brush fire of the season was fanned by gusty winds and fueled by low humidity. Like the firestorm that transformed the Oakland Hills into an empty moonscape, the fast-moving flames raced up drought-parched, wooded hills toward about 1,000 houses.

But not one home was lost in the northern San Fernando Valley.

The Oakland blaze killed 25 people, destroyed more than 3,000 houses and apartments and did more than $1.5 billion in damage in the wooded hills around Berkeley and Oakland.

Fortunately, that was not the case in Sylmar.

Credit is certainly due to hundreds of courageous Los Angeles firefighters who waged an aggressive assault on the ground and from the air against the flames. They continued on Tuesday to monitor hot spots and patrol the perimeter of the 750-acre brush fire.

The men and women who battled the walls of flame also gave credit to homeowners who have chosen fire-resistant roofs and an aggressive brush-clearance program that had eliminated much of the fuel for the fire.

“If these were wood-shake roofs, I can almost guarantee that every one of these houses would have been on fire,” firefighter Phil Wiereter told The Times. Untreated wood-shake roofs were blamed for much of the spread of the Oakland blaze.

The Sylmar homes were also protected by firebreaks--strips devoid of dry brush and other vegetation--that had been cleared behind a large trailer park, according to Los Angeles fire experts.

These safety steps--fire-retardant roofs and aggressive brush clearance programs--must be mandated by government everywhere there is the danger of a California brush fire. The legacy of the Oakland fire must include laws that reduce the chance of death, devastation and destruction.

The Sylmar fire damaged a stable and a private recreation area and snarled morning rush-hour traffic. Although the fire raged for hours, it did not destroy lives or homes. Quick-thinking firefighters deserve much of the credit for that. So do Sylmar residents, who were not just lucky but also smart. They took preventive measures. Their example should be duplicated in every tinder-dry and wooded residential area of the state.