As fires devastate Southern California and cause the evacuation of more than half million people, Bill Fulton laments how land use planning has largely been ignored as a fire risk reduction method.
"Southern California is in flames again – it's gotten to the point where I can't even remember which fire the soot on my car is coming from – and makes me wonder once again why we've given up on land use planning as a way to reduce fire risk in such a fire-prone region."
"As I write this, the current conflagration has cost more than 1,000 homes and forced the evacuation of more than a half-million people. Will Californians come out of this catastrophic event thinking that we need to use land use planning to avoid fire-prone areas?"
"I doubt it, no matter how much devastation we see on television, because over the past few years we've moved in the opposite direction on fires. We're not trying to avoid hazardous areas. We're trying to fireproof ourselves instead."
Comments
In Harm's Way
It is amazing how people manage to build things in harm's way, fire prone areas, flood plains, etc. and then feel they deserve by right a bailout.
The suburbs of San Diego are
The suburbs of San Diego are affluent, white, and Republican (and a major source of Republican fund-raising). Trust me... it will all be rebuilt exactly the way it was long before New Orleans ever comes even close to resembling its former self. Adding insult to injury, the insurance on my condo in SF is sure to go up next year to help pay for it.