PLATFORM : We Ignore Nature's Dictates at Our Peril

By ROBERT BRUCE

April 14, 1992 12 AM PT

<i> ROBERT BRUCE is the founder of a newspaper for the survivors of the Oakland Hills fire. He talked about the lessons residents have learned that can be applied to other fire-prone areas. He told The Times</i>

These fires have happened in Southern California repeatedly and happened up here repeatedly. Santa Barbara had a fire in 1990 that burned 600 homes. We don’t learn. We haven’t, so far.

If you choose to live in California, in areas that have dense brush, lots of foliage, some in arid climate, then you’ve got to be aware of the fire danger, and people here were not aware of it.

Oakland was prepared to fight an urban fire in places where there are tall buildings, and that’s not what occurred.

What happened in Oakland will occur over and over again in California if we don’t become aware that we’re fighting wild land fires in an urban setting. We clear the land of native trees that are resistant to fire, like redwoods and coastal live oaks, and plant eucalyptus trees because they grow quickly and smell good.

We also allow lots of non-native brush to grow around our homes. We really don’t pay attention to the dictates of nature.