Written by: Nathaniel Mannor
2018 was an awful year for the town of Paradise, which saw a campfire that killed 85 people and destroyed 19,000 structures. Now the Dixie Fire makes its way towards Paradise, an ominous sign and a grim reminder for them. Dan Efseaff, director of the Paradise Recreation and District, explained that many of the homes in the at-risk zones are only accessible via steep and narrow roads that firetrucks cannot cross over due to lax zoning laws. But Efseaff has a plan to curb the raging wildfires.
Paradise is considering turning its most vulnerable spaces into fire-resistant green areas such as parks and other recreational places. The idea is to halt the wildfire while giving the firefighters enough time to reach the dangerous zones. This plan requires voluntary work, and currently, they are $20 million short of making a difference, though the 2018 fire caused $16 billion in damage.
But Efseaff’s plan is not foolproof. For one, this relies on residents of Paradise’s at-risk areas selling their homes for the collective good, and considering that many Californians moved to rural areas out of financial necessity, that feat won’t come cheap. Instead, a better solution would be to harden houses against fires, making them more flame resistant. Jim Broshears, the emergency management coordinator, favors this plan as he avoided the 2018 fire by clearing out the brush and creating defensible space around his home.
The real tragedy here is that California residents have to take matters into their own hands to solve a problem that Governor Newsom failed to address. Newsom’s lack of leadership combined with his mask and vaccine hypocrisy makes him unfit to hold public office. Fire concern is no new issue to California, the fact that Newsom has not ensured adequate fire safety measures for this fire season is a disgrace to all Californians alike.
Photo: AP
