The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that the cost of fire fighting in Malibu was $4.2 million. I did a little thinking to estimate the real cost: Add another $200,000 for police overtime. Add six homes destroyed at $1 million each. Add the Presbyterian Church and Colony Plaza at maybe $10 million. Add some 10 cars that burned at $50,000.
Add a number of garages and outbuildings at $100,000. Add landscaping: plants, bushes, trees and sprinkler systems, $300,000. I won’t add the loss of work and sales to local businesses but if you total the above it’s already $19 million. It might be considerably higher. We were very lucky it wasn’t many more homes due to excellent organization, quick response, enough choppers and hard work by the firefighters.
That’s $19 million! How much does it cost Edison to keep their lines from falling down in the high winds that reoccur every fall? I’m certain it’s just a cost calculation for them.
Scott Dittrich