To the editor: Relating to constructing in wildfire zones, California appears content material with the established order. County and metropolis governments are signing off on new houses in fireplace hazard zones at a dizzying tempo, with out correct evacuation planning or home-hardening assets.
An evaluation by the Middle for Organic Range, the place I work, discovered that, since 2021, native officers have authorized no less than 61,000 houses in areas designated by the state as “very excessive fireplace hazard severity zones.” This “construct now, cope with it later” method is not any strategy to home Californians, particularly with the warnings from Topanga.
Residents there have been informed that when one other wildfire comes barreling by, they might be informed to shelter in place (“Are you able to survive a wildfire sheltering at dwelling? For one group, L.A. County Fireplace says it might be the one possibility,” Nov. 24). What a horrifying prospect.
As Los Angeles prepares to mark one 12 months for the reason that Palisades and Eaton fires, I sincerely hope cities and counties prioritize hardening current houses and steer new growth to safer areas near jobs and transportation facilities. The established order is unsustainable and lethal.
Tiffany Yap, Oakland
This writer is a senior scientist on the Middle for Organic Range.
