Tougher Public Policies Pay Off Amid Fire Disaster

Major brush fires have all too quickly returned to Southern California. Blazes continued Tuesday in Malibu and the Carlsbad area of San Diego County, where scores of structures have been destroyed. In all, fires raged in at least seven locations Monday and Tuesday, including the Lemon Heights section of Orange County.

So far, injury and property damage figures are low compared to 1993, when more than 700 homes were destroyed and damage totaled nearly $1 billion in fires that ranged from Ventura County to Laguna Beach. The difference, in some cases, was sheer luck. This year in Malibu, for example, the route of the flames has touched few homes at this point.

There have been some important preventive changes since 1993, but not enough. In Orange County the scope of the Lemon Heights fire reflected the refusal by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and some municipal officials to designate very high fire hazard zones that require special safety measures. The officials and residents of such beautiful but high-risk canyons and hillsides complained that the label would increase insurance rates and depress property values. Where’s the value in Monday’s ashes?

A hazard designation would give a fair and proper warning to prospective home buyers and others. The same brush and trees that provide the rustic atmosphere also provide the fuel path for rapidly moving fires. The designation would require homeowners to shoulder responsibility. Now they are being subsidized through higher insurance premiums for residents in low-risk areas. Homes near rivers likely to flood pay higher premiums; houses at high risk to fire should too.

In Los Angeles County, it took the somnambulant Board of Supervisors two years to finally pass, in 1995, an ordinance requiring automatic interior fire sprinklers in new or remodeled homes in high-risk areas. The board also passed only tepid requirements for replacing wood-shingle roofs with flame-retardant materials.

Meanwhile, localities like Laguna Beach are setting standards to emulate. The city has declared itself a severe fire hazard zone and expanded the firebreak around its borders (with help from brush-hungry goats). Wood roofs have been banned, fire hydrants and water lines added, building codes tightened, firefighting equipment upgraded and a 3-million-gallon reservoir built.

Positive changes in Los Angeles and Orange counties are paying off in this week’s blazes. Both counties now use better aircraft for water bombing and transporting firefighters. Good brush clearance around structures has been helpful. Malibu’s rule of brush height at three inches or less within 100 feet of homes, 200 feet in high-hazard areas, is a standard setter. Los Angeles firefighters also benefited from improved radio communications and training.

The need for more improvements is clear. There have been 10 major fires in Los Angeles County since 1968. Topanga Canyon, spared so far this year, averages a major wildfire every four to five years. Malibu has had four in the last 18 years.

That puts a premium on tough public policies and the means to enforce them. Few localities have achieved a satisfactory level of precautions and firefighting ability. Meanwhile, the fire season is far from over.