As a rather temporarily displaced Durangoan currently living in the Los Angeles area, I was both heartened and more than a bit proud to read the article “Local fire departments hit the road to help Los Angeles.” (Herald, Jan. 19)
I am currently in the La Canada/Flintridge suburb on the edge of the Eaton Fire, which has burned over 14,000 acres and left at least 17 deaths in its wake. We were without power for just shy of four days and are currently living under an active “pre-evacuation” notice. At one point, the fire got within two miles of this once placid affluent suburb.
As fiercer “Santa Anna” winds are forecast and the fire is far from being contained, it is of great personal reassurance to know that San Juan Basin area fire department detachments have joined the ranks. The heroic LA firefighters are taxed beyond imagination. And yet, they continue, as do the fires.
While in the media, the red and blue factions pontificate and assess blame on the politicians and bureaucracies; our red, white and blue firefighters stoically go on with the real task at hand; saving lives and property.
As with all things, this tragedy will at some point be over and the rebuilding will begin. With time, it will fade into the recesses of a long past memory, however, hopefully not the brave men and women from near and far who stood up to and vanquished nature’s worst.
John G. Monroe
LaCanada/Flintridge, California
