Saturday, July 27, 2019

[Marin County] Letter to the editor: Controlled burns make me smile

Blog note: this letter references a recent grand jury report.
Last week during the two prescribed burns in Marin I was actually gratified by the smell of smoke. I live about one mile from the site of the burns which produced very moderate amounts of smoke, unlike the picture portrayed by Charles Dell’Ario in his letter to the IJ on June 23 in which he complained about said smoke.
I smiled upon seeing the smoke as I knew the local fire districts were burning off the tall grass in a controlled manner and, at the same time, providing valuable training to their firefighters. The “knuckleheads” referenced in his letter are dedicated first-responders who are doing their very best to keep us safe in the endless fire seasons to which we must all now adjust.
The recent Marin County Grand Jury report stated that the people of Marin are living in a powder keg. It is not a matter of “if” but of “when” a wildfire will strike here.
My neighborhood in Novato has taken this threat very seriously and launched an effort to educate and to take the preventative measures that could well save our homes and our lives if such a wildfire lands in our area. We have worked closely with our local fire district to educate ourselves and to take whatever measures we can to harden our homes, remove flammable vegetation, create defensible space and to get to know our neighbors so that, in a disaster, we know what to do and how to help each other.
Enduring safety-related power outages or smoke from controlled burns is a very small price to pay in protecting our homes and our lives.
June 27, 2019
Marin Independent Journal
Letter from Ginny Hanna, Novato


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