Hillside Construction Can Be Safe From Fires

* Les Hardie’s article “Drawing the Line in the Ashes” (Valley Commentary, Dec. 12) represents a position more than six degrees off center.

New construction did not cause the brush fires. In fact, structures that were built since 1985 had a survival rate that exceeds 99%. The heavy losses occurred in structures built before 1985.

And the reason these structures were lost was not direct impingement of burning wild-land biomass, but from ornamental vegetation that was planted by the property owners, and poor or improper construction, including unprotected wood roofing, decking and siding. The structures that survived are monuments to correct landscaping.

Curtailing new construction will not preserve hillside communities, constructed before 1980, that are overgrown with cultivated biomass. Every community can be made safe from catastrophic wildfire without sacrificing ambience.

Vegetation management techniques are available and in use that reflect environmental as well as safety concerns. While it may be expedient to blame new construction for catastrophic wildfire loss, the real culprit, unfortunately, continues to be lack of planning for wildfire survival.

SCOTT E. FRANKLIN

Santa Clarita