The Seemingly Endless Cycle of Destruction and Growth : We have to be better prepared when the inevitable comes

There was a terrible symmetry reflected by Tuesday’s Malibu firestorm that must have some local residents wondering whether we are being put to a test of almost biblical proportions. Last week Laguna Beach, a jewel on our southern coast, was ravaged by a runaway brush fire that destroyed 366 homes. Now a fast-moving blaze claims at least 200 homes on the region’s northern coast. How much more can we take?

A lot more, if history is any indication. For this is not the first time Malibu’s 20 miles of ocean-view homes and the scenic canyons leading away from its coastline have been severely buffeted by nature. Not only have brush fires done damage periodically (the last great fire disaster in that area was in 1970), but last year unusually heavy rains caused mudslides; even in a year of normal rainfall, a severe winter storm can claim homes on the beachfront. And of course there are always the many seismic faults underfoot. Yet people continue to come to Southern California, including Malibu and other waterfront or canyon locales, drawn by a temperate climate as much as by hopes of prosperity. And they continue to build structures where, it can be argued, nature never meant for humans to be more than visitors.

That point was made, in a perhaps impolitic way, by U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt when he suggested that Californians should do some “soul-searching” about whether it is wise to continue building in deep-brush canyons. In fairness to Babbitt, who as a native Arizonan knows firsthand how tough life can be in a desert, the same point has been made by Californians who have seen this state grow beyond the wildest dreams of its first settlers. So Babbitt’s point is worth pondering as property owners from Malibu to Laguna, and as far inland as Riverside County, start rebuilding. What can we do to be better prepared?

California voters took one step in the right direction Tuesday when they approved Proposition 172, maintaining the state’s half-cent sales tax for spending on public safety. Many political analysts cited the recent firestorms and the firefighters’ skilled, courageous work as a key factor. Even voters who launched the “tax revolt” in 1978 with Proposition 13 realize there are important services only government can deliver, services that must be paid for. And they will loudly applaud President Clinton’s televised special announcement Wednesday night of more emergency federal aid.

Obviously government needs to continually upgrade its firefighting capability. One tool that local agencies must now reconsider is the “Super Scooper,” a Canadian-made plane that can swoop down over water, load 1,600 gallons in 12 seconds and then roar off to dump it on a fire. Advocates of the plane have pressed for its use in California since 1970. Last year the Legislature authorized $1.5 million to lease one Super Scooper plane to test in fighting wildfires near urban areas. It was vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson on the advice of state fire experts who consider the plane too expensive and not as useful as water-dropping helicopters. But that decision is questionable, and Sacramento must revisit the issue.

There may also be a role for the free market in determining how much rebuilding is done in fire-ravaged canyons. Early reports indicate that the California Fair Plan, a special insurance industry fund to share the burden of insuring homes and businesses in high-risk areas, may not have enough reserves to cover the cost of the recent fires. A plan spokesman estimate that more than 18,000 homes are covered in the affected areas. Clearly the insurance industry can have a great deal of influence in making sure that any homes rebuilt in canyon areas have fire-resistant roofs and adequate access for firefighters and are far enough from brush to be reasonably safe in a wildfire.

Southern California’s age-old cycle of drought, heavy rains, prolific growth of brush and then--inevitably--fire is not going to let up for our convenience. So we must be ready to live with it and be much better prepared for it if we are to stay in a region that is, at once, both blessed and cursed by nature.