Fire tax not needed

The recent Juliet Fire at Camp Pendleton and others that burned in our county at the same time proved our current county fire protection services are not broken but work quite well. No homes were lost, even though they were driven by our infamous Santa Ana winds.

Know which counties did lose dozens of homes? The ones with the large $400 million fire departments, such as Orange and LA County.

Any fire chief will tell you that what we experienced last October and in 2003 could not have been stopped with 50 or 100 extra fire engines, and firefighting aircraft are rendered ineffective in winds above 40 mph.

It will happen again, and the most cost effective way to prepare for it is for individual homeowners to take preemptive measures such as creating defensible space. This is just as effective as having a $500,000 fire engine in your yard.

Our county fire protection is a model of efficiency and is getting better every day. Prop. A would amount to nothing more than a speed bump to a wind-driven wildfire. That’s what half your money would be used for; the other half will go toward building new fire stations and whatever local agencies feel like. There are many grants out there for such expenses which require no payment by property owners.

This is not the right time to raise taxes. This is one problem that can be solved without a tax increase. Vote “no” on Prop. A.

Mike Manchor

Fire chief,

De Luz Fire Dept.