California Conservatives Continue to Oppose Fire Protection

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

As you might remember from last fall, California conservatives tend to prefer low taxes to adequate fire protection. As Northern California is ablaze - with two huge fires burning out of control in the Big Sur mountains to the south of me - attention is again focused on providing adequate fire services. And as Democrats and Arnold Schwarzenegger debate the best way to fund it, conservative Republicans continue to fight the very concept. From the San Jose Mercury News:

“Hoping to buy more fire engines and helicopters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing a statewide surcharge on property insurance of $6 to $12 a year. Another lawmaker, state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, wants to charge a $50 yearly fee on the 900,000 homeowners living in rural areas to fund fire prevention....

The new engines were recommended by a state task force after massive wildfires in Southern California in 2003 killed 24 people and burned 3,600 homes.

“The governor's proposal would add a surcharge on property insurance for all commercial and residential structures statewide. In ZIP codes designated as "high-hazard zones" for earthquakes, fires or floods, the fee would be 1.4 percent, about $12.60 a household per year. In "low-hazard zones," the surcharge would be 0.75 percent, or $6.75 a year.”

The main debate between Kehoe's and Arnold's proposals is who should pay for the costs of fighting fires in the urban-wilderness interface. I like that Arnold's plan would have higher rates for those in higher risk areas, but would still require all property owners to pay something. The fact is that even the brush fires are not exclusively a threat to folks who chose to live in fire-prone areas. Much of California is a fire-prone area, even the urban areas.

Last fall, the Santiago Fire in Orange County came within 1/4 mile of my grandparents' home in Tustin and within a mile of the home where I grew up and where my parents still live. It's on the coastal plain, not in the foothills, not in the brush. But a fire that gets started in the brush can easily get blown into a densely populated area. And of course, the large fires require departments from across the state to respond, but someone's gotta stay behind. Since most fire departments in California are understaffed - such as here on the Monterey Peninsula - it is imperative we add the necessary equipment. And let us not forget the threat of earthquakes.