Malibu City residents and civic leaders suffer from selective amnesia. Wildfire is a natural part of coastal chaparral. Property owners invite personal disaster by building their homes and landscaping them with invasive exotics in close proximity to a fire-dependent plant community. This has been proven time and again. The State Parks Department is not to blame for this unfortunate conflagration. The blame rests with the arsonist, as well as the planners, decision makers and homeowners who allow buildings and their inappropriate landscaping to intrude onto the natural landscape.
While I am sympathetic to those whose homes were damaged or destroyed, we must stop looking for government agencies (and the taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill) to serve as scapegoats.
Robert C. Pavlik
San Luis Obispo