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FIRE SAFETY COMPROMISED BY COUNTY PLANNERS
**UPDATE: August 31, 2007**
S.D.County Government proceeds with release of Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) for the Stonegate/Merriam Mountain project
**UPDATE: March 19, 2007**
S.D. County Planning
Department adopts dangerous and experimental policy called "shelter-in-place"
(REMAIN IN YOUR HOME DURING A WILDFIRE)
Despite receiving
hundreds of e-mails and letters protesting Shelter-in-Place (SIP) from residents all over San Diego County, the
County Planning Department announced on March 19, 2007 that it has decided to adopt SIP as official "fire protection"
policy.
This policy is accepted nowhere else in the entire United States.
San Diego County has approved SIP not only for new developments but has gone one step further and approved it "for institutions
(e.g., schools)" as well.
The County goes on to state:
"The
goals of protecting people and structures from death or damage during wildfires has changed from suppressing all wildland
fires, to learning to live with them, through greater political leadership, agency innovation, public involvement and community
responsibility. The current approach argues for residential compatibility with wildland fire."
In other words, the County has decided to forge ahead with its policy of permitting dangerous, high-density development
in extreme-fire-hazard wildland areas without provisions for evacuation. The scandal that is lurking behind this policy is
immense. It is apparent that developers in San Diego County have unduly influenced the policy-making role of government. One
look at the "technical review panel" for the new wildfire protection policy reveals developers' consultants,
ex-fire personnel now on developers' payrolls and developers themselves. Respected scientific, medical and public health
organizations are conspicuously absent. The American Lung Association's position paper condemning Shelter-in-Place was
totally ignored.
In the 2003 Cedar and Paradise fires, even though 750,000 acres burned, "only" 24 people
died because nearly everyone was able to evacuate. In the brave new world of Shelter-in-Place, thousands will be trapped and
die. This experiment of confining people to their "fire-resistive" homes during a wildfire (never before tried)
will finally get a test run. The experiment will include schools as well.
Beside being an experiment on human beings,
SIP makes no accommodation for those special "at-risk" people who will be subjected to smoke inhalation, reduced
oxygen concentration, heat and terror. These include healthy infants, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory,
pulmonary or cardiac conditions. San Diego County is ignoring the fact that it is universally ackowledged that SIP will
be deadly for these at-risk groups.
The County is also ignoring the fact that panic
in a SIP community will be inevitable. The County's proposal of "public education" to avoid panic is ludicrous.
If the roads are open and a wildfire is approaching, people will try to flee. Since the roads provided will be inadequate,
they will become clogged and chaotic, with catastrophic results.
Recent U.S. Senate hearings on wildfire suppression
held on January 30, 2007 concluded that development in the wildland-urban interface areas must be drastically
reduced because of the extreme dangers of placing large populations in high-fire-hazard areas. This type of
development needlessly endangers the lives of thousands and makes firefighting efforts far more difficult and costly.
San Diego County is flying in the face of this warning and is moving 180 degrees in the opposite direction. With San Diego
County continuing to approve massive development in severe fire-hazard areas, the stage is being set for a wildfire catastrophe.
Background information (prior to the County's
March 19, 2007 policy approval):
The purpose of this website is to inform the residents of San
Diego County that fire safety will soon be extremely compromised because evacuation will no longer be required for certain
housing developments. This proposed policy puts us on a collision course with disaster because we happen to live
in one of the most fire-hazardous regions in the world.
Remember the tragic firestorms
of 2003? Apparently the County planners don't. They are now proposing a strategy called "Shelter-in-Place" (SIP)
that advises people to remain in their homes during a wildland fire. Nowhere
in the United States has this policy ever been tried and implemented in a planned community during an actual wildland
fire.
In brochures written for five communities in Rancho Santa Fe (where Shelter-in-Place has already been adopted),
the statements are made:
"When the fire front approaches, go inside your home, take a deep breath
and remain as calm as possible."
"Dress properly to shield yourself from
the heat, embers and flames. Wear long pants, a long-sleeve shirt or jacket, gloves, boots and a damp cloth to cover your
nose and mouth."
"Move interior furniture away from windows
and sliding doors to prevent radiant heat from catching the furniture on fire."
"Do
not attempt to pick up your children from school or daycare; staff members are trained to protect your children and will institute
proper emergency procedures on site."
"Take a deep
breath and stay in control of your situation. With adequate planning and practice you can be confident in your skill
to survive the disaster."
In the November 2006 elections,
the electorate of the Deer Springs Fire Protection District (located in North County) voted out its incumbent Fire District
Board. On Jan. 19, 2007, the newly-elected Board (which ran on a platform dedicated to enforcing fire-safe development) unanimously
rejected the Fire Protection Plan of the proposed 2,700-unit Stonegate-Merriam Mountain development. Stonegate's
Plan does not provide for evacuation in case of wildfire in a severe-fire-hazard area.
The Fire Board also rejected the concept of Shelter-in-Place as a foolhardy, untried experiment. This Fire Board
will not risk thousands of lives for the sake of a developer.
In an unprecedented
action, the County Planning Department ignored the local Fire District Board. The County has told the developer to proceed
despite a totally unsound Fire Protection Plan. Stonegate's plan, while completely failing to address evacuation,
actually instructs people to "relocate" outdoors in search of safety during a wildfire,
such as to a "park" within the project.
Early evacuation has always been and still is the only rational fire
protection strategy.
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