Fighting Fire With Fire : A preventive program for wild lands should include regular controlled burns

Five months before the Topanga Canyon chapter of last year’s frightening firestorms, homeowners succeeded in blocking a controlled burn in the area by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It was an indication that homeowners--reluctant to take risks--still held sway, and that little ground had been gained by the proponents of so-called prescribed burning, which seeks to eliminate some of the fuel that can result in later conflagrations.

The pendulum is now swinging back. Just listen to the federal officials who are ready to retire Smokey the Bear, or at least cut his hours.

“The Smokey Bear message for 50 years has been effective--fire is bad,” said John Douglas, director of the U. S. Interior Department’s office of hazard and fire programs coordination. “We have to add another dimension to it--that fire can be good if it’s used in the right place at the right time.”

Translation: Tens of thousands of acres of forests and other wild lands should be treated with preventive burning annually. And the Clinton Administration has even opened discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency to negotiate waivers to the Clean Air Act to allow more controlled burns. If this gains further momentum, it is sure to influence state and local policy.

Why the sea change? The reasons include another staggering summer of wildfires in the West, a price tag of nearly $700 million to fight them, the deaths of 27 federal firefighters, and last year’s Southern California firestorms.

The good news is that public cooperation locally in terms of brush clearance has greatly improved. As of October, fewer than 1% of the wild land parcels patrolled by county fire officials were considered overgrown. And Los Angeles city officials have nearly doubled their inspections of fire hazards in vacant lots.

Those on the fire lines figure to be better prepared than ever as well, with water-carrying Super Scooper airplanes now stationed at Van Nuys Airport, with fire engines now outfitted with swimming pool siphons, and with National Guard C-130 airplanes available within 13 hours instead of the usual 24 hours. After four Los Angeles city firefighters were badly burned in a blaze near Chatsworth last year, firefighters also are being equipped with more safety gear.

Unfortunately, it may not be enough to prevent or quickly contain another conflagration. That’s why federal officials are changing course, and why the preventive efforts of citizens and local officials have never been more important.