Park rangers can prevent tragedies
The following was addressed to Governor Schwarzenegger
My name is Kian Schulman. I live at 1832 Lookout Road, Malibu, at the top of Corral Canyon. My neighborhood was the first one hit by the firestorm last month. I am living in a gigantic coffin. All the animals and plant life have been destroyed for thousands of acres around. The silence is deafening. Two canyons, Corral Canyon and Latigo Canyon, and also Solstice National Park, are gone. It looks like a moonscape, burnt down to the bare earth. I have no neighbors the next block over. The entire block is flat with dust and twisted beams.
I was awakened in the early morning of Nov. 24 by the sound of fire engines in front of my home. I went outside to see a mountain of orange flames miles wide pushing towards us at high Santa Ana wind force. The firemen and policemen urged us to leave immediately. I could not imagine them telling us to leave while they were staying. These brave people of our fire and police forces have huge responsibilities. What other job, outside the military, asks for risking your life. These are the true heroes, each and every one of them. Our greatest thanks to all of them.
This tragedy could have been prevented. At least three times a week I hike at the top of the ridge where the cave where the fire started is located. I have many times found campfire rings still smoking in the morning. One time, in fact, I found the railroad tie car parking stops aflame in a pile. A few years ago I contacted State Parks about it. They thanked me for extinguishing the fires. At that point, I requested a ranger to investigate the parties while they were going on. The Parks Department replied that they had only one ranger available at night to cover from Point Mugu to Malibu Creek State Parks.
It was impossible for the ranger to check out the parties at the caves. At this point I requested at least a sign should be placed there at the parking lot saying fires and overnight camping are not allowed. Within a week a sign to this effect was in place. I offered my assistance to show them where the party caves were, since the rangers had no idea. I set up a meeting and showed a ranger the cave system, including the cave where November’s tragedy started. To my knowledge no one was ever penalized for illegal activities, especially campfires, up at the caves. This would have been the single most effective way of eliminating the campfire danger.
The result of saving one park ranger’s salary has become the $100 million estimated loss reported. Please help support an increase in the number and salaries of park rangers in our area. We need more park rangers. We are all the custodians and protectors of countless creatures in our parks. Our parks are our national treasures, like Fort Knox or the Smithsonian Institute. They provide psychological solace to all that live here or visit Southern California. We are the parents who did not take care to protect our animals and plant wards. Let this not happen again. This could have been prevented. This was an act of ignorance, not an act of nature. Thank you for your support concerning this issue.
Kian Schulman