Fire crews and the State Land Department are frustrated that homeowners at risk of losing their homes to catastrophic wildfires fail to remove dead brush that fuels those fires.
Some homeowners let wildflowers, grasses and brush turn brown and die without taking any action.
Many talk about how insurance and government loans will help them rebuild if fire burns down their homes, State Land Department officials say.
Firefighters said they don’t know how to reach out to homeowners with that attitude.
“For every person I find who is interested in doing something, there is someone who is ambivalent about the process,” said Cliff Pearlberg, fire prevention officer for the State Land Department. “I’ve had people look me square in the eye who say, ‘I’m not interested in going out there and doing the work and spending the money,’ and a lot of times, we’re not talking a lot of money.”
The clock meanwhile is running as triple-digit temperatures usher in a terrible fire season.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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