Editorial from Sept. 21, 2007

“Reflections on the fire”

By Danielle Seckler

   Now that the fire danger is over, it is time to reflect on how it went. The Butler 2 Fire started on Thursday, Sept. 14th, around 1:00 p.m., with 5-acres and by Friday morning it had grown to 2,000 acres. A flurry of activity began with evacuations, the Emergency Operations Center in Big Bear Lake opened, and evacuation shelter opening at the High School. The fire spread quickly to the Northeast and to a size reported to be 18,000-acres, which was later downsized to 14,000-acres. How it all started will probably never be known; could have been leftovers from the first Butler fire, still smoldering. Or maybe a lightning strike a week or so before, smoldering below the ground.

   Pretty scary how quickly things changed, yet the Valley took it mostly in stride and cautious optimism. We’ve been there before and know how well the fire crews do in our mountains. We have the most admiration for these guys and truly appreciate everything they do. All of which could be seen when we were asked for cookies, healthy snacks, chap stick, sun block, sweats, jackets, gloves, and hats. The fire crews brought here from all over the nation were in awe in how fast we could get these things to them and how much. Especially, when the crews didn’t realize just how cold it gets up here, even in September. Many people opened their homes to our neighbors from Fawnskin and some just offered a hot meals and some reassurance. That is the wonderful part about living in a small community. We come together; no longer is it the East against the West. We just become one community working on fixing the problem.

   Having said this, I wonder about the wisdom of the Mayor of Big Bear Lake, Bill Jahn, speaking on Channel 4 news, saying that there was nothing to worry about and that visitors should come on up to enjoy what the valley had going on. Fire crews were being brought up from every direction, along with the ‘looky-loos’. At one point on Saturday, our streets were filled with people driving 20 MPH and watching the fire airplanes and not the traffic. A fire is not a free “E” ticket at Disneyland.

   Those of us who live here knew that the wind could have driven the fire below the dam and around into Big Bear Lake, Fawnskin, or even around through Holcomb Valley, where the forest hasn’t burned in decades. The forests around us are not healthy, with much too much fuel for fire. There was a real danger, no matter how much the powers to be told us that we were ok. Things could have changed in a blink of an eye. Having more people up here to evacuate would have made things much worse than the 2003 Fire. Then, most of the tourists had left the mountaintop and our leaders were definitely visible. This time it was much different and it could have been because the incident command center was in Snow Valley and not in Big Bear Valley. Yet, I can’t help wonder why San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger didn’t make a bigger effort to ‘press the flesh’ with his neighbors in Fawnskin. Considering that he faces a serious challenger for his seat in June 2008, I would have thought this would have been an opportunity for him.

   There is a fine line between the safety of the people and business. This valley needs its tourists and every time something like this happens, our economy takes a dip. Certainly, the original Butler Fire didn’t help the Labor Day weekend business. Having a second fire start Thursday, before the events planned at the convention center and the ski resorts didn’t help. This weekend has the weather working against the businesses. All of this is not a good start to the slow season for businesses waiting for a ‘good’ winter to start.

    We don’t know how many times we can say that thanks to Mother Nature and excellent fire personnel, we didn’t have a disaster. The reality is that we live in a dangerous area and that will not change in the near future. We need leadership and total community involvement to find a viable solution to the danger. Recently, the City of Big Bear Lake tried to create a vegetation ordinance, but they did it alone and it failed for the most part. After the 2003 Fire, we had a committee of everyone stakeholder in the valley, called HUFI and it died within a couple of years. Maybe this time, someone will take the lead and actually do something for all the businesses and residents in the valley with a balance between the two.

   Next Monday, the City of Big Bear Lake will hold their regular meeting. It will be the first time the public can speak about how this fire was handled. By that time, we think that many people will have found their voices. Anyone wishing to send an email may do so here.

   How can it be that while the valley can rally so well in a time of emergency, that our leaders can’t get their act together afterwards?

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