First of all, great editorials by everyone last week—some good information, interesting points of view and creative, implementable ideas. But will anything ever change? Can anything ever change?
By now, though, everybody’s seen the aerial footage and photos of the devastation in certain neighborhoods of Malibu. It looks like the aftermath of a nuclear attack.
The one thing that really struck me though as I gazed at the photos of Point Dume in particular, is how shockingly close together these homes were. Many believe this close proximity was a major factor in allowing such mass destruction, as flames and incinerating temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Fehrenheit literally ignited one home after another. If you’ve ever stood near a structure completely engulfed in flames, you’ve experienced the kind of intense heat that can radiate outward. Nothing within its reach stands a chance.
If you go back to the point when developers, city planning officials and possibly other dubious agencies banded together to determine how to divide the land (establish the lot sizes), you might understand the very reason why these homes fell into the extremely dangerous “sardine community” blueprint. Give up? Profit! Profit for the developers who could then build the most homes possible on any given piece of land, and profit for the city in the form of more homes, more taxes. It’s a win-win for the bureaucrats, but a lose-lose for the home buyers and residents.
Now, of course, everybody is ready to rebuild and those same developers are chomping at the bit to cash in for a second time, but if everyone rebuilds following the same housing configuration, they will be inviting yet another major disaster.
This could be an opportunity to propose a redivision of the land more appropriately so larger side yards, similar to many others across the nation, will help prevent or at least minimize massive waves of destruction. Sound impossible? Sound crazy? Not really, if the people demand loud enough.
Let Malibu set the standard for safer communities in this current year-round fire season. Don’t let the establishment dictate whether or not you will feel secure over your loss of property and potentially your loss of life.
But … will anything ever change? Can anything ever change? Well, I suppose, just as with the implementable concept of placing our power lines underground, probably not.
K. Geist