Fire Maps of At-Risk Homes Ignite Controversy

The Los Angeles City Fire Department is embroiled in an unlikely controversy over its new brush fire “pre-attack maps”--which detail hillside homes that could fare the worst in a major wind-driven blaze--and just how those maps are to be used.

The maps clearly show the houses with wood shingle roofs in Bel-Air, Westwood, Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, among other areas, that are considered at the highest risk of burning.

But the maps are being interpreted differently, causing the latest in a string of public relations problems for the Fire Department.

Some firefighters say that the maps show the homes--identified with red dots--that would be “written off” in a major fire, while top fire officials say that the maps are designed to identify the homes at greatest risk and most in need of extra prevention efforts. However, they concede that those houses’ status might have to be reevaluated depending on the severity of the fire, weather and staffing considerations.

City Councilman Joel Wachs called Tuesday for a full, public debate about the inflammatory maps. Although Wachs says that he doesn’t yet know whom to believe, he says homeowners have a right to know whether their houses are identified as being high-risk so they can choose to make improvements.

A Los Angeles firefighter who has written a respected booklet on brush fires said the maps are designed to help firefighters make quick decisions about which homes to save and which to avoid in a fast-moving fire. Ron Harmon said the Fire Department has not told homeowners about these maps, which will be used primarily for firefighters coming to new areas to help in a major blaze. (The maps were used Tuesday in one of the first brush fires of the season, in the Sepulveda Pass.)

“Our mission has consistently been to protect lives and property. . . . But under certain conditions we write off homes,” said Harmon, a 20-year Fire Department veteran. “My goal is not to embarrass the chief, not to embarrass the administration, but to bridge the gap between what we know as firefighters and what the residents should know.”

But Deputy Fire Chief John W. Callahan says the maps are intended to assist firefighters from all parts of the city in identifying the best areas for evacuation, locations of plentiful water supplies and high numbers of homes with wooden roofs. All the maps break down large fire station areas into smaller sections.

(The county Fire Department already uses similar maps in its jurisdiction.)

The most controversial maps were created by the battalion that includes six fire stations from Westwood to the ocean, identifying each house with a shingle roof. In other parts of the city, maps were developed that are less specific but still describe areas with large numbers of risky homes.

Callahan acknowledged that during fast-moving brush fires, fire officials are forced to make quick decisions about whether to protect certain homes or to deploy firefighters elsewhere.

“We make these decisions in the heat of battle,” Callahan said. Harmon “is saying those decisions are already made. . . . That is the difference.”

The map confusion, which came to light after Harmon appeared on a public television show last week, has angered many firefighters in the city who believe his statements reflect badly on the department. Others, however, say that Harmon was merely stating fact and that is shocking to hear.

“To say this as a sound bite has terrible implications . . . it becomes irresponsible,” said Fire Chief William Bamattre.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City President Ken Buzzell said the maps clearly do not show the homes that can be left to burn. Rather, he said, firefighters will be better able to make quick decisions about where to focus their efforts.

“I’ve never seen any maps which say ‘do not protect this structure,’ ” Buzzell said. But with limited resources, he said, firefighters could use the maps to choose between homes that could be protected and those that couldn’t.

“With reduced fire staff . . . you’re put in that kind of quandary every time we go to a fire like this,” Buzzell said. “Yes, we may have to write some houses off but there’s no game plan to do that.”

The city Fire Department has faced a number of political and other problems inside and outside City Hall in recent months. A brush clearance fee was hastily enacted, revoked and then reinstated. A police and fire bond measure failed last spring, and some officials blamed the Fire Department. The maps are the latest to sting the department but this time the union and department brass appear to be on the same side.