February 15, 2025 12:17 am
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* Open Letter to State Legislators – Buz Blog

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

To all of the state legislators in Arizona: the wildfires in Southern California incinerated a significant area of the city and county of Los Angeles. At least two dozen people have lost their lives in this conflagration and more loss of life can be expected. Thousands of homes and other buildings have burnt to the ground. There are many lessons to be learned from our neighboring, once Golden State. One can only imagine the heartache and devastation felt by those who have lost loved ones. While thanking God that they survived the fires, those who have lost their houses are experiencing the emptiness of knowing their home, and all of the memories that home contained, went up in flames.

Our elected officials here in Arizona need to study these wildfires and their after effects, to make sure that what happened, and is still happening in California, doesn’t happen in our state. There are many policies and decisions that need to be investigated and addressed. First and foremost is the prevention and/or the mitigation of wildfires and the damage they do. It has been pointed out, by several sources, that there is a continuing need to manage our forests and vegetation in our rural areas. This would necessitate the need for prescribed burns to eliminate the deadwood, evergreen needles and leaves accumulations that are fuel for, and cause the rapid spread of wildfires. We seem to be doing a fairly good job of that in our state. In addition, property owners must be advised to create safe spaces around their homes and buildings.

Probably the most important thing for government officials to do is the development of a plan, by our appropriate governmental agencies and private stakeholders, that would encompass what each participant should strive to accomplish, with special consideration directed at the worst case scenario. These tabletop exercises should include every affected department in local, state and federal government as well as any private businesses or organizations in the area. Plans change as circumstances change, but having a basic plan of attack allows for alternative actions, and can lessen the loss of life and property.

Included in those plans should be procedures to address the problem of cleanup after the immediate threat has been stopped. Modern homes contain a variety of materials that cause toxic fumes and ashes when burned. It is imperative, then, that cleanup and removal of toxic debris be done quickly and safely. In the meantime, those who have lost their homes, apartments or businesses, need to find, at least, temporary shelter.

Once the disaster sites have been rendered safe and victims sheltered, it will be necessary to start the rebuilding efforts. The poor people whose homes have been destroyed in this fire face daunting regulations, especially those within the LA city limits. In 2014, the Elks Lodge in San Pedro, California, was partially burned in an arson fire. Because of the onerous building regulations, it took six years to rebuild the Lodge. A friend who helped, stated that almost every time the contractor passed an inspection, some bureaucrat would change the regulation requiring more time and expense. What should have taken, at most, 6 months to rebuild, took six years. Is that what the homeowners in LA can expect? To make matters worse, the fire victims who wish to rebuild in that area, will have to get by the California Coastal Committee, (CCC), that has jurisdiction over all of the land for up to 1000 yards from the high tide line in urban areas. Would the CCC and the LA building bureaucracy willingly eliminate irrelevant regulations and burdensome fees to expedite the rebuilding of a home?

Many insurance companies have cancelled the renewal of homeowner policies because the California Department of Insurance put a limit on the amount insurance companies could charge. This resulted in several companies cancelling homeowner’s insurance because they couldn’t make a profit in California. Our elected officials in Arizona need to address all of these problems so Arizona doesn’t become the burned out desert and economic disaster that is LA and Southern California.

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2 thoughts on “* Open Letter to State Legislators – Buz Blog”

  1. Yes Buz. As another person who moved from Kalifornia I only appreciate the profit I derived from the selling of my home in Anaheim. The relocation to Yavapai County and Prescott Valley was a pleasant ordeal and not regretted. Common sense and political regulations and controls are still a problem here but citizen involvement can bring back citizen controls as was the case in Prescott Valley last year.
    We the People, organized and elected a new majority in Prescott Valley. We began the task of taking back PV to benefit the residents and not the developers and government in their quest for growth. We came here for the small town values, small town traffic, open spaces, wildlife and a general quality of life. Not a high-rise downtown or a densely populated area with all the crime of culture that goes with largess.
    California government must collapse. Then government can be restructured to serve its residents, not the other way around.

  2. Prescott National Forest has a 10 year plan to clear the brush from 200,000 acres. This should help protect the area. Thee state has done firewire to 500 acres abutting our neighborhood.

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