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From the LA Times

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How to limit a fire's damage

If you become a fire victim, it'll happen fast and you won't have much time to make decisions. Here are some steps to take in advance.

David Lazarus

September 2, 2009

When my mom's house in San Francisco burned down a few years ago, I learned that if the flames don't destroy all your stuff, the water from firefighters' hoses will finish the job.

I also learned that it pays to be prepared -- a lesson that's especially timely in light of the blazes raging in Southern California. So today we'll look at some ways to make your home more fire-ready.

"People always think that a fire won't happen to them," said Richard Hedrick of Hedrick Fire Protection, an Anaheim fire-safety consulting service. "But you never know. You don't want to take chances."

He and other experts say your first priority is to save lives. That might sound like a no-brainer, but more than a few people have been trapped by flames because they were focused instead on protecting their possessions.

It shouldn't even be an issue. Get your family members and other occupants out of harm's way first. Then worry about your gear.

Make sure everyone knows escape routes and practices evacuations. It's especially vital that kids know what to do. Here's a rule of thumb: When in doubt, get out.

If your home is threatened by a wildfire, always follow instructions from emergency crews to exit the scene quickly and safely.

More info on preparing your family for the worst can be obtained at the "parents & teachers" section of Federal Emergency Management Agency's FEMA for Kids website .

Some equipment no home should be without: Smoke detectors and at least one fire extinguisher in the kitchen. And if you're not within easy reach of the ground, some sort of rope or fire ladder.

Hedrick advises getting at least a five-pound extinguisher rather than smaller 2 1/2 -pound jobs, which may not be sufficient to douse an electrical or kitchen fire.

Also, know how it works.

"I'm amazed at the number of people who don't know you have to pull the pin first," Hedrick said. "Pull the pin, then point and squeeze."

Always aim for the base of the flames. "Otherwise, the chemical shoots right through the top," Hedrick observed. "It doesn't smother the fire. And make sure you use the whole thing to be safe."

Smoke detectors aren't just a smart idea, they're the law. Change the batteries at least once a year (you might want to pick an easy-to-remember date like Jan. 1). And keep them free of dust, which can mess up their performance.

The fire at my mom's place was started by workers repairing the roof of the house next door. One errant spark was all it took.

After firefighters had things under control -- and how can anyone say enough about these amazing men and women? -- my family was permitted to go inside and salvage what we could. There wasn't much left.

"The most devastating part of a fire isn't losing your furnishings," said Robert Rowe, a former deputy fire marshal who now runs Pyrocop Inc., a Long Beach fire-safety consulting firm. "It's the photographs and documents."

He's right. More than anything, I regret the loss of our family photos. Whole chunks of my childhood are gone.

Rowe recommends storing photos and important documents like birth certificates in a fireproof safe or file box. It can be easily tucked away on the floor of your closet (heat rises; lower is better).

This isn't a guarantee that your pics and documents will come through unscathed, but it greatly improves the odds.

And it doesn't have to be a wallet-emptying purchase. Target sells a fireproof file box for about $100, while Wal-Mart sells a number of fireproof safes for under $200.

Alternatively, Rowe suggests creating a "doomsday box" containing all your important files and paperwork that can be grabbed quickly during an evacuation. Obviously you'd want to keep it in an easily accessible location and make sure it's light enough to be portable.

Many of us store our lives electronically on our computers. Rowe strongly encourages computer users to back up files onto an external hard drive that can be grabbed quickly if you have to flee your home.

It also doesn't hurt to store your digital photos online with an online service like Shutterfly , Flickr or Snapfish .

Some, like Kodak Gallery , require you to purchase a certain number of prints annually to keep your account from being deleted. Make sure you always read the fine print before entrusting your precious memories to a stranger.

Remember, too, that your cellphone might not make it. Keep a list of important numbers in your safe or doomsday box.

I'd never want to suggest that your home insurer wouldn't be there for you every step of the way, but, well, here's another area where it's better to be safe than sorry.

"The larger your loss, the bigger the headaches," said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders , an advocacy group.

"If I've heard it once I've heard it a thousand times: A person has been promised full coverage but then, when the rubber meets the road, they don't have it."

Play it safe by walking through your home with a cellphone or video camera and making an inventory of your possessions once a year. Then make sure the file is stored either online or on your external hard drive.

This way you'll be able to show that you really did spend a bundle on that 60-inch plasma TV or that you really did have a walk-in closet crammed full of Christian Louboutin shoes.

Keep your insurance policies and any written agreements in your fireproof box or make sure you have copies elsewhere (perhaps in a safe deposit box at the bank). You don't want to have to take your insurer's word for what was covered and what wasn't.

Also, make sure your insurance covers the complete rebuilding of your home. Generally speaking, you'll want at least $250 per square foot of coverage. Consult a contractor if you have questions about your property.

Look at it like this: If, God forbid, you become a fire victim, it'll happen fast and you won't have much time to make decisions.

Taking steps in advance can save you a lot of heartache and reduce problems after the smoke clears.

And if nothing else, you'll probably sleep better at night knowing you've played it smart. That's worth it all by itself.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus2-2009sep02,0,1116600,print.column

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Editorial

The case for parole reform

Terrible stories like Jaycee Lee Dugard's should not derail legislation to change the system.

September 1, 2009

The tragic case of Jaycee Lee Dugard, abducted at the age of 11 and allegedly held captive for 18 years in a backyard complex of tents and outbuildings at an Antioch home, has raised a newly relevant question: How could the alleged kidnappers and their victims have hidden in plain sight for so long? And does the apparent failure of parole agents to detect the ongoing crimes show that reforms to the state's parole system are a bad idea?

Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, who have been charged with 29 counts of kidnapping and rape, were well known to law enforcement officials. Garrido was placed on parole in 1988 after serving 11 years of a 50-years-to-life sentence on federal kidnapping and rape charges. He spent 11 more years on federal parole, then was placed under the supervision of California officials. A parole officer visited the Garridos' home a few times a month but never saw anything suspicious and never went into the backyard.

Political opportunists were quick to use the headline-grabbing Dugard case as an argument against prison and parole reforms being considered by lawmakers. "This demonstrates the problem that we're going to have if we release thousands of prisoners into our local communities," state Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) told the Sacramento Bee. Actually, it demonstrates pretty much the opposite.

Faced with the necessity of cutting $1.2 billion from the ballooning corrections budget, the Assembly on Monday approved a bill that would, among other things, change the way California supervises parolees. As has been repeatedly documented in studies by panels and blue ribbon commissions since 1980, this state's parole system is a train wreck of inefficiency that crowds prisons, overwhelms parole officers and produces the nation's worst recidivism rate. The bill would help remedy that situation by reassessing parole status based on the risk an ex-convict poses to the public -- low-risk parolees would get less supervision and high-risk ones would get more. It reduces the ratio of parolees to parole officers from 70 to 1 to 45 to 1.

Does that mean dangerous sex offenders like Garrido would be left to their own devices? Hardly. Not only would they still be subject to monitoring, but their parole officers would have more time to focus on them because they wouldn't be overseeing nonviolent drug addicts.

The Assembly watered down a good prison bill previously passed by the state Senate, wasting the opportunity to create a commission that would reassess the determinate sentences that also contribute to prison overcrowding and undermine public safety. But the bill still makes the most significant changes to the state's corrections system in decades and is badly overdue. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-parole1-2009sep01,0,6234260,print.story

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Editorial

Learning to live with wildfires

The fiery eruptions are part of California's natural landscape -- but there are ways to reduce the devastating effects.

September 1, 2009

Was the still air a blessing or a curse? The dearth of breeze kept the Station fire from burning even more disastrously out of control at the same time that it corralled ash and heat, making for miserable air quality. Most tellingly, though, it was a sign, just one of many, that the length and severity of wildfire seasons are worsening.

The worst fires typically occur around October, when Santa Ana winds and brush that has been drying in the hot sun since April combine to fuel deadly blazes. Yet the fire in the Angeles National Forest has consumed more than 105,000 acres without a gust to be felt. That is in good part because of the exceptional dryness of the vegetation after years of drought.

If it weren't for the evacuations and the lives and buildings lost, this would be considered one of the more environmentally acceptable fires. Southern California's scrub and chaparral depend on an occasional burning. Many plants, in fact, are “fire followers” that evolved to sprout up after a conflagration; fire clears areas for growth and deposits fertilizer. This area in the San Gabriel Mountains hasn't burned for 40 to 60 years, which is in sync with the natural fire cycle for the region; more frequent fires damage open land by not allowing native plants to mature while giving invasive annual plants a chance to take over.

In recent years, though, truly catastrophic brush fires have occurred even shortly after the rainy season ends in early spring. Years of low precipitation have brought progressively drier brush; research indicates that this is a result of climate change. Construction adjacent to open lands has led to attempts to stop all wildfires, allowing dense growth to build up and exacerbating the dollar and human damage from those that occur. Grazing livestock and human activities have given non-native plants, especially annual grasses, the opportunity to dominate wild landscapes. These cover more extensive patches of ground and dry earlier.

Even if the predicted El Niño conditions arrive this winter, the blessing will be mixed. Heavier rains lead to lusher growth -- which then turns into a bumper crop of fire fuel.

It's hard to win against something as natural to the area as wildfire without dominating -- and further damaging -- wild lands. But we can reduce fire's harm by severely limiting sprawl into remote areas; regularly clearing near buildings and creating fire buffers along roads and between open lands and inhabited areas; and restoring habitat to a more natural state that provides less fuel. Fire is inevitable; our challenge is learning to live with it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-fires1-2009sep01,0,3968003,print.story

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From the PPL

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Schwarzenegger to take prison fight to U.S. Supreme Court

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a federal court's order that the state reduce its prison population by 40,000 inmates, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The appeal will be a dramatic escalation in the long-running legal battle over the state of California's overcrowded prisons and their often criticized medical care for inmates.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the appeal will be filed later this week, adding that cutting the state's inmate population of about 170,000 must be done methodically and by state officials.

"We don't believe it's right," McLear said, referring to the federal court order. "We need to reduce the prison population but we need to do so in a responsible way."

Schwarzenegger is pressing for state legislation to cut the number of prisoners in order to bring down spending on prisons, one of the state's top expenditures.

He backed a bill approved last month by the state Senate that would reduce the state's prison population with a number of measures, including releasing elderly and ailing inmates. But the Assembly passed a rival and less ambitious bill on Monday, raising doubts the two bills can be reconciled.

A legislative battle over releasing prisoners may take shape amid public resistance to the idea after a sensational kidnapping case broke near San Francisco last week with the arrest of a paroled sex offender for abducting an 11-year-old girl, holding her for 18 years and having two children with her.

(Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE58102F20090902

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Los Angeles, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago top Forbes 'Most Stressful Cities in America' list

Honking, pollution, crowding...  sounds stressful, and a lot like New York City .

But the Big Apple does not top Forbes ' America 's Most Stressful Cities' list.  In fact, it's only #3 on the list. 

So which metropolis takes the prize?  Chilly Chicago , followed by sunny Los Angeles .

Forbes looked at America's cities in terms of unemployment levels, crowding, air quality, number of sunny days and median home price drops to determine which cities were the most stressful.

Here's how they stacked up:

1. Chicago 

2. Los Angeles

3. New York City

4. Cleveland (tied with Providence)

4. Providence (tied with Cleveland)

6. San Francisco

http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2009/09/01/2009-09-01
_los_angeles_new_york_city_cleveland_providence_top_forbes_most_stressful_cities_.html