In response to Kim Batarse™s letter critical of the LACO Fire Department, my response is that anyone wanting to have blind faith and believe that anyone or anything can protect them from wildfires needs to wake up. Maybe it’s good that Malibu residents have more realistic expectations for LACOFD.
Sometimes, with good preparation, homeowners who stay behind are lucky. They survive and save their homes. Frankly, my husband’s life is more precious, so for us, staying to personally fight a wildfire is never going to be an option. That’s why we, like the majority of residents affected, evacuated during the Corral Canyon fire. No one’s life is worth a house.
To threaten that you and your neighbors will stay, not to save anyone’s life but to save material objects makes me seriously question your priorities. You knowingly endanger your lives by trying to fight fires for which you are not trained and do not have the necessary equipment. Do you really think you can outwit a wildfire when the best-trained firefighters are sometimes overtaken and die?
You know that what you threaten to do is very risky, but despite the best advice you are stubbornly trying to pass it off as sound behavior. To make matters worse you try to lay responsibility for your decision onto LACOFD. The decision to stay rests on your shoulders, not Chief Freeman’s.
Unfortunately, it is also highly probable that because LACOFD’s top priority is the protection of life, hard-working firefighters will be diverted to protect you. The consequence is that someone else’s house will burn. Our fires are so fierce, that even the most experienced, well-trained firefighter needs to be cautious and respectful of the danger. We are not paying firefighters to be foolish. Sometimes they need to wait until reinforcements or equipment arrive so no one’s life is endangered.
If you really want to do something, engage in positive action. Raise the money to buy more equipment, planes and helicopters. Tell elected officials you want a better financed fire department. Vote for tax increases when LACOFD needs more funds. Participate or give input to the newly formed LACOFD/Corral Canyon Homeowners Working Group. If the Working Group identifies strategy or policy changes that need to be made, you can bet that Chief Freeman will make sure they occur. Not because you threaten, but because he’s committed to protecting even foolhardy Malibu residents.
Amy Perrone