Thanks to the Fire Department for...

Thanks to the Fire Department for a job well done in Verdugos

To the Glendale Fire Department:

While taking a five-minute break at work today, I noticed an

orange haze in the color of the sky outside. Having lived in Southern

California all of my life, I immediately feared the worst -- fire.

I called my wife, who was at our home in the hills in Glendale,

and sure enough, she said there was a fire raging near our home.

She reassured me, though, that it was several miles away and our

home was in no immediate danger. We have lived in the hills in

Glendale for 11 years and have survived many close calls.

During our hectic lives, we seem to notice, in the periphery of

our days, the fire department testing gear, clearing brush, checking

hydrants and neighborhoods, but never really stop to register the

value of such a system and its people.

Somehow, after finishing my break, I felt comforted by a gut

feeling that our fire department would gain control of the situation

quickly.

Many hours later, as I was finally able to leave work, I

approached my car on the roof of a parking structure in Studio City.

My view was of streaks of fire, each a mile long, heading up the

mountainside toward the top of the hill and down the other side,

toward my home and family.

Thoughts of my wife at home with our infant daughter, my

10-year-old son at school near Whiting Woods, and my 12-year-old

daughter at school in La Crescenta, filled my head, yet a sense of

comfort allowed me to drive toward home, somehow knowing that our

fire department would have the situation under control.

As I drove home, thick black smoke covered our part of the city,

but the flames were nowhere in sight. My children were safe at home

with my wife, unaware of the danger they were in that day.

It’s late now, and though my time is precious, so much more are my

family and my home. Which is why I’m sitting up alone, writing this

letter, as my family sleeps soundly because of the swift and brave

action of the Glendale and local community fire departments and the

helicopter and water-dropping planes, whose pilots and crews risked

their lives today so that I can continue to go about my life, knowing

that my family will be safe under the watchful eye of our local and

community fire departments.

Thank you all for a job well done! Good night and God bless!

BRIAN ARMSTRONG

Glendale

Put aside the rancor and help build a new shelter

The totally untrue and hate-filled comments of one Elizabeth

Duvall, respecting Crissi Fernandez, prompts me to respond.

Her personal attack upon Ms. Fernandez is uncalled for and

basically couples the age-old use of negativism and personal abuse

with an attempt to separate Ms. Fernandez from the rest of her

supporters. For a person who is supposed to be a kinder and gentler

person, more altruistic after Sept. 11, Ms. Duvall is off on the

wrong foot.

I have known Crissi Fernandez for two or three years, and find her

to be an intelligent, forthright and articulate woman who is neither

self-serving, rigid nor idiosyncratic. She draws heat, to use Ms.

Duvall’s word, only from those who abused their contractual

obligations at the shelter and from those to whom the real facts of

its operation, uncovered by Fernandez and fully verified by a city

audit, were disavowed or who chose to closet them. And still do.

I think it appropriate for Ms. Duvall to refrain from spewing

forth the venom she falsely attributes to Ms. Fernandez, for it is

this type of character assassination that causes less committed yet

decent, competent individuals to hesitate to enter the public arena

or, as Shakespeare said, “to take arms against a sea of troubles and

by opposing end them.”

The issue here is to work toward financing, building and staffing

a new shelter. For the sole benefit of the animals, Ms. Fernandez and

her other supporters are advocating and attempting to do just that.

Hopefully, the Duvalls of this city will put aside their rancor, stop

talking nonsense and work with the city toward that goal.

DICK SEELEY

La Crescenta

We cannot fail to recognize the price of freedom, security

Our memories are indelibly etched by the images of Sept. 11, 2001.

We have initiated extraordinary steps to ensure that our vigilance is

proactively protective of what had been taken for granted. And while

we have debated the best possible way to balance security and

freedom, the coincidental cycle of adopting revisions to our building

codes comes at this time of introspection.

On Sept. 3, the City Council introduced building code revisions

with an ordinance for adoption scheduled for a vote on Sept. 17. The

safety of our citizenry is paramount, and to this end the Building

and Fire Board of Appeals has unanimously approved the subject

revisions.

The board has also asked the Building Official to continue

investigation of what measures may be instituted in the future

regarding exiting requirements, with regard to minimizing adverse

consequences in the event of any emergency.

We must never let down our guard, nor can we ever allow the

lessons of history to be compromised by failing to recognize the

price of freedom and security. I trust that all those who live and

work in Glendale will continue to feel secure in their environment,

and will support the efforts of those who are entrusted with the

responsibility of providing the means by which we all continue to

enjoy the quality of life we treasure.

RONALD BLACK

Glendale