I planned to attend the City Council meeting Wednesday, to propose that Malibu become a no smoking city. Not for health reasons, but for fire prevention. I don’t intend to insult conscientious smokers, but many are still unaware of and visitors are oblivious to Malibu’s fire danger. I then discovered that the proposal for camp areas in Malibu was on the agenda, with Charmlee Wilderness Park as one of the possible areas. I thought that after the fire, the meeting would be devoted to fire prevention. It’s ridiculous that instead of addressing fire prevention the main discussion was Ramirez Canyon vs. the Mountain Conservatory. I am not slighting that problem, but it’s absurd to discuss this right after the fire, especially with campgrounds as a stipulation. I support trails and camping, but along with camping come campfires, even if there’s a prohibit sign.
I’m a 12-year Charmlee docent, and note that Charmlee’s value is misunderstood. It’s a wilderness park, wild as in wilderness. Malibu’s fortune is having an area where wildflowers bloom and wildlife roam, including cougars. Camping is a fire hazard. Humans at night in a wilderness park invite incidents. Charmlee has its own mission, which is fulfilled each time the docents lead a hike for school children and other groups. There already are campsites in Malibu, which have few campers, negating need for more campsites. We need to prohibit smoking, campfires and camping (except in the already designated places). I remember Smokey Bear! I still can hear him say, “Crush your cigarettes, break your matches, douse your campfire.” We can’t have Smokey Bear here. We need our own mascot to stress fire prevention.
The protection of Malibu citizens should be paramount. Fire prevention programs, an emergency decal program that really works, hot line numbers for disorderly driving on PCH and in canyons, mudslide information and prevention education should be implemented. During the fire I used my FEMA and CERT training to calm neighbors and make emergency calls. Every neighborhood should have someone take the City’s CERT training.
Alessandra DeClario