Stories of government failings following Hurricane Katrina remind me of what I experienced in the “Old Topanga” fire of 1993, and raises questions about what could happen “next time around.”
In November of 1993 I was living on Saddle Peak Road and working in Santa Monica. When someone told me there was a major fire in the Santa Monica Mountains, I jumped into my truck and headed up PCH, for there were animals at home and no one else to extract them.
However, at Topanga Canyon Blvd., officials blocked the road and refused to let anyone pass. I parked by the Charthouse and proceeded on foot to Tuna Canyon Road. Some emergency personnel were there, but no one stopped me as I began walking up the steep road. A short while up, a car overtook me. When it slowed, I asked the driver if he could give me a ride to the top. The fire was nowhere nearby, so for a short while we watched the flames in the distance. I collected animals and rode with this man toward Topanga to the friend’s house. After a time, authorities came by ordering everyone to leave. The owner was now home and stoically refused to leave.
The fire did come to Saddle Peak, but it was many hours later. The home I was occupying would have burned had it not been defended by firefighters, but it was several days before I was allowed up there to find out.
So when I heard of people who were not evacuated in New Orleans and left to fend for themselves, followed by cries of “where were the buses and helicopters,” it occurred to me how unaided I found myself 12 years ago. Perhaps I should have started asking “where were the emergency vehicles ready to evacuate those stuck in the mountains, and why then was I not allowed to take care of things myself without resorting to risky measures?”
I have no sense that anything will really have changed should another (inevitable) disaster strike our volatile geography. Will a mindless marshal law immediately prevail as before? Will officials not be prepared to assist in evacuations? I ask these questions because I would like some answers, and to let other neighbors know that government assistance may not be there for them, despite their fancy zip code!
Scott Palamar