EDITORIAL: Failure to learn wildfire lessons could have tragic consequences

Feb. 02--After witnessing the horrific loss of life and property in wildland fires across Northern California, it would be foolish to not work to bolster our local protection.

There have been tragic lessons learned when it comes to emergency communication with the public, safe access for evacuation, management of open spaces and fire-safety precautions that homeowners and businesses should consider.

It doesn't take a lot of investigation to see a greater need for such improvements -- possibly life- and property-saving measures -- across our county.

Over the past two years, we've seen firefighting forces and equipment overwhelmed by the ferocity of these fires. We heard firefighters come back from the scorched front lines of those fires and say that it could happen here.

San Rafael Fire Chief Chris Gray has presented an outline of a plan that deserves to be a top-priority focus at City Hall. After all, the safety of the community is one of any city's most important responsibilities.

Of course, it is not only going to require an investment of taxpayer resources, but also for the public to start taking precautions a lot more seriously.

Residents have been told they need to think about what they plant on their properties and where they plant it. The plan takes that measure a step further, banning the planting of highly flammable vegetation such as juniper, bamboo, acacia and Italian cypress.

The plan's goal is to increase "defensible space" around properties, space between flammable landscaping and materials that could improve the odds of a house being saved.

In some cases, homes are surrounded by trees and shrubs, where the potential hazard is obvious, but the owners can't afford the cost of having them removed. The city needs to address that issue, possibly providing financial help to homeowners. After all, they are not only protecting their own homes, but very likely stemming the spread of fire to neighbors' houses -- or even farther, as has been seen in fires in the North Bay and Shasta and Butte counties

Gray is also proposing eliminating wood shake roofs across the city by 2029, replacing them with more fire-resistant materials.

But the city also needs to plan for improving maintenance of its own backyard. Across the county, it's not hard to find public-maintained open areas that are overgrown. The county, cities and other public agencies need to lead by example.

If they can't, they need to make that decision based on a broad-based public review and discussion involving as many voices and stakeholders as possible. And these agencies need to report what they have accomplished so that the public is aware they are doing their part, as well.

Beefing up the city's public alert system and keeping it up to date with the ever-changing advances in personal technology and communication should also be a top priority.

As we've seen in recent fires, having safe evacuation routes could save lives. In some cases, lives were lost because people couldn't get out. Also, getting firefighting personnel and equipment to stem a blaze may also be a life-risking challenge on narrow, winding roads.

Some residential areas have only one or two ways in or out. Measures should be considered to improve these situations with a public communication system, firefighting strategies or organized evacuation plans.

Mayor Gary Phillips commented, "I would suggest that the community is ready for us to do something like this. ... I think that after Santa Rosa and certainly Paradise, the community is asking ... that we need to do something."

He's right. They've been asking for it since the North Bay fires, and the destruction in Paradise only raised their concern.

Each community needs to put fire protection at the top of its agenda. Failure to learn life-saving lessons from the recent firestorms would be both foolish and tragic.

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