Publisher’s Notebook: Political Smoke

BY ANNE SOBLE

Local firefighters don’t have to respond to critical members of the city council who appear to either have faulty timepieces or, perish the thought, are experiencing serious signs of presbyopia; enough people in the community will do that for them. Every one of us who has been on the fire line with crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department is in their corner. That doesn’t mean we are blind to systemic shortcomings, whether due to the need for increased funding, or the still developing science of fire prevention, prediction and control. Sure, there are archaic practices that need to be addressed. And ground forces and air forces have the same goal, putting down a fire with the least possible loss. You don’t have to live in Malibu very long before you learn what it means to be on wildfire alert. Sooner or later, nearly everyone smells smoke. But nature, not man, is the ultimate firefighter, and wind (or lack of it) is the weapon of choice.

My last brimstone experience was the 1993 fire on Malibu’s western flank (the one that, if it had met up with the Topanga fire simultaneously wreaking havoc at the eastern flank, could have immolated much of what we know as Malibu), When fire strikes at my place, it’s on with the Luccheses (this is a Malibu cowgirl) and out come the leads, halters, muzzles, bridles, etc. for the critter round-up. First the dogs and cats were ensconced in carriers, then a truckload of goats headed for the office parking lot, horses and burros (there were no llamas then) were jumbled together and trailered to safety. The crews from three trucks were on the grounds and did exhaustive preparation as the deafening fire surged over the ridge. We watched crew members set backfires behind barns and other outbuildings; each firefighter demonstrating the skill and courage that marks the profession. That does not mean that they are superhuman. They would have been no less courageous and professional if they were overpowered by the 50 mph winds blowing at the time and were unable to save a single structure.

What does this have to do with last month’s fire on Malibu Road? In this case,it’s not just the official logs, but journalists’ photographs and tapes, as well as witnesses at the scene, corroborate that the January 8 responders did their job in an admirable time frame under daunting circumstances. Malibu is the target of so much misinformation from outside the community, it’s a shame to see the same thing happening at City Hall.