Riveting story

Lizzie Johnson’s “150 Minutes of Hell” (Page 1, Dec. 9) was superb. She captured the horror, the power and the heartbreak of wildfire that, unfortunately, has become too common in the West. She had me riveted and tearful with the stories of the brave survivors and the victims.

Hopefully, the tragic stories she described will lead to productive, proactive discussions and solutions regarding forest management and fire prevention.

Improvements in fire prevention can be made in many areas and at many levels. For example, it’s unfortunate that Congress and the U.S. Forest Service administration allocate more funding toward firefighting than toward fire prevention on forest service lands. At the same time, the U.S. Forest Service fire ecologists and fire prevention officers are often handcuffed by too restrictive regulations, or public outcry, toward forest thinning and prescribed burning.

On a personal note, my wife and I have a home on a small parcel of forested land of which we are required by state law to maintain a defensible space from wildfire. But, neighboring owners of undeveloped parcels (no house or structures on the property) are not required to clear their land to make the community more defensible.

Here in Plumas County, not far from the Paradise fire, we fear many of our private and public forested lands are ripe for more catastrophic fire.

Dave Valle, Portola