SURFING SOAPBOX:Goats could break fire cycle

The other day while driving in through Laguna Canyon Road my friend and I were remarking on how dry the brush already is here in town.

Today is only July 6 and we have months of hot weather ahead before we even get into what many refer to as the “fire season.” That’s usually in the beginning of fall, when we begin getting offshore flows, otherwise known as Santa Ana wind conditions.

Another fact to remember is that last winter our total rainfall was barely over two inches.

This brings us to my last fact, an eerie one to say the least: the two largest brush fires to hit Laguna Beach were in 1979 and 1993.

This means that they were 14 years apart. Here we are in the summer of 2007, in what is shaping up to be another scorching summer, after one of the driest winters on record “” 14 years later after the devastating fire of 1993 in which Laguna Beach lost more than 300 homes.

Given these circumstances, right now is not the time for environmentalists and the powers that be to squabble over the great goat-clearing debacle.

Personally, I like the goats. I think they do a fantastic job of clearing the brush and making the fire breaks that our town will need so badly should another brush fire occur here.

Perhaps the city can devise a way to implement some new safeguards that would suffice for the environmentalists who oppose using goats for brush clearing.

In any event, it’s 14 years after the last fire that nearly swept through our entire town and now is the time to do everything we can to break that 14-year cycle.

Peace.