As someone who has dedicated the decade since the Tea Fire to fire prevention and preparedness in Montecito, I am particularly perplexed by President Trump’s comments in Paradise, CA.
There are so many ways that communities can work together to protect their neighborhoods from wildfire that don’t involve cutting down the forests or “raking.”
In Montecito, we focused on hardening homes (improving fire and ember resistance) and on creating public/private partnerships to build a network of strategic buffer zones along our WUI (Wildland Urban Interface) to protect homes and evacuation routes.