JAIMIE FRANKLIN
Assistant News Editor
As the Jan. 8 Bluffs fire remains under investigation and the state of local emergency has officially ended, a Malibu city councilmember, however, has questioned the fire department’s response, claiming that it did not reach homes on Malibu Road quickly enough.
Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, who lives on Malibu Road, commented on the issue at the Jan. 17th and Jan. 24th council meetings. Assistant Fire Chief Reginald Lee, who oversees the Malibu area, attended the Jan. 17th meeting.
Barovsky told Lee that when she left her neighborhood at 5:20 p.m. the day of the fire, there were no fire trucks present, even though flames had already reached the street.
Lee disagreed, and said firefighters were on Malibu Road at 5:09 p.m.
“We were there within 7 to 10 minutes,” Lee said. “I understand that seems like a long time when you are where the fire is.”
Barovsky has since clarified that she is critical only of fire department policies that dictate that firefighters respond first to where fires originate, rather than where homes are threatened. In this case, firefighters first met at Bluffs Park, from where they then moved to try to save homes on Malibu Road.
“I have no criticism of the Fire Department, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for firefighters” Barovsky said in a phone interview.
“There’s no such thing as a perfect policy.”
Lee disagrees with Barovsky’s criticism and explained that the policy of responding to a fire’s origin prevents it from escalating out of control.
“Tactically, that’s the best way to handle it,” Lee said. “If we were to turn it around the other way, and go down the road and save homes [initially], the problem would be you would be reacting to the incident rather than getting ahead of it.”
Barovsky said in the phone interview that she plans on meeting with Fire Department representatives in the near future to review the policy and determine what can be improved.
Despite this controversy, questions have also been raised regarding brush clearance in the area. Policies under the Malibu Local Coastal Program limit clearance to only 100 feet from structures in order to preserve wildlife and natural vegetation. Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley has said he thinks this must be increased to 300 feet in order to protect homes.
At the Jan. 24th meeting, Tony Shafer, the city’s fuel modification specialist on the Environmental Review Board, asked the council to establish a “fact-finding” panel to determine how clearance regulations and type of vegetation may have contributed to the damage caused by the fire.
Although Kearsley agreed, he recounted his trip to Sacramento after the fire and what he interpreted as a disinterest on part of state officials in passing legislation. He plans on generating more support from local officials before raising the issue again, Kearsley said at the Jan. 24th meeting.
“We have to go with one single voice up there politically and ask someone to write a bill,” he said.
02-15-2007