Editor’s note: This letter was addressed to the Malibu City Council
Yesterday’s Malibu Road fire was sudden but a very predictable and preventable tragedy. Thank goodness there was no loss of life. I believe that our neighbors would not have lost their homes if the California Department of State Parks and California Coastal Commission had not insisted on having the Bluffs Park designated and maintained as a coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitat.
The state policies that resulted in not clearing or thinning the great amount of brush present at Bluff’s Park were the essential fuel ingredient for the scope, speed and destruction of this fire. With the tremendous amount of brush so close to Malibu Road homes it took no effort for the flames to develop to 50 feet or more lengths and jump the road.
As you know, these state agencies and others have been warned repeatedly about the dangers of having so much brush next to homes where the Santa Ana winds commonly reach hurricane force. Because of Bluff’s Park proximity to Malibu Road homes, it has never been an appropriate location for extensive very flammable brush habitat.
The same can be said for the Civic Center Park under planning and development where the Santa Ana winds are commonly more severe and the potential for fire losses of homes, businesses, people and pets is even greater. Instead, the Civic Center Park should be planned as an evergreen fire resistant subtropical and succulent arboretum designed to lower the high water table and prevent the spread of fires that will always come down Malibu Canyon in the future.
Please convince the governor and other California policy makers that state insistence on easily flammable native plants and brush for Bluff’s Park and the Civic Center Park endangers public safety and wildlife in these high risk areas for Santa Ana wind-borne fires.
Jeff Harris