The Economic Impact of Wildfire Events on Rural California
An Analysis by Terry P Rodriguez
Part IV. What Can You Do
This is where activism on the part of California citizens can have an active role in utilizing the "art of the possible" in attempting to achieve the aforementioned results. Dave Spencer, City of Auburn Fire Chief, is at the forefront to educate the community of Auburn to take responsibility to fire safe their homes and property. He hypothesized that if homeowners follow-through with enacting the measures of home hardening and defensible space, some of which is required by law, this might motivate some insurance carriers to stop the price escalation or cancellation of homeowner protection policies. This is called the "Empowerment of the people." Empowering Placer County Rural citizens to act on advice put out by the wildfire protection community provided on hand-outs, websites, and other media to follow their instructions in hardening their homes, create required defensible space, and establish approved emergency plans that meet varying wildfire situations.
Where does the Rural Areas of California stand in regards towards reducing the human and economic impact of Wildfire events? Apparently State government and the Wildfire protection community is attempting to answer that question. There are three possible solutions. First, increase state government spending to provide the staffing and equipment needs of the state's wildfire defense system. Secondly, enact laws and ordinances that require homeowners living within high wildfire prone areas of California toward maintaining defensible space around their homes and establish fire resistant hardening of their dwellings. And lastly, strictly enforce those laws and ordinances to ensure compliance. People power moves legislation. It is the part of California citizens to contact their Legislative Representatives toward motivating them to move such legislation quickly. Recently, the Placer County Board of Supervisors passed an amended Hazardous Vegetation Abatement Ordinance presented by the Placer County Fire Safe Alliance, comprised of representatives from the Wildfire defense community. This ordinance is unique in that it included Placer County private roads under the defensible space requirements, it set a definite vegetation clearance requirement along all roads within wildfire prone areas, failure to comply penalties are now stringent, and it created a Hazardous Vegetation Abatement inspection/advisement team to enforce this ordinance (County of Placer). Placer County citizens now have a legal wildfire defense response toward protecting our neighborhoods. It is now the responsibility of our Placer County citizens to follow the law. It is now time for Placer County Rural citizens to empower themselves to enact recommended measures that will protect their rural way-of-life from wildfire disasters.
Reducing the Economic Impact of Wildfires upon the State of California is up to the citizens of our state to alleviate the financial strain it will have on our State budget and citizen pocketbooks. It is the responsibility of concerned California State citizens to work with our State Legislature to enact laws to armor our defense against wildfire destruction, comply with those laws, expect enforcement of those laws, and that the citizens of California follow those laws. It is the responsibility of Rural Californians to empower themselves in these ways to maintain adequate positive liquidity of our California State Budget.
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