Fire Camp 8 - What we know so far

Sitting at my home office desk, I have a gorgeous view of the sunrise.  As the sun comes up each morning, I first see the silhouette of the Santa Monica Mountains, then watch as the sparkling Santa Monica lights dissipate and the sun illuminates Fire Camp 8 directly across the canyon.

One of the many reasons my wife and I selected this mountain top paradise to raise our three children was the knowledge that trained emergency professionals and a LA County helicopter where 3 or 4 minutes from our front door.

When we purchased our home, we understood the designation of Fire Camp 8 to be "Camps II" whereby a portion of the occupants were released prisoners on probation and could be trained and receive pay for fighting wildfires.

Wikipedia definitions of Fire Suppression Camp Sections

It seems that unbeknownst to the ENTIRE surrounding community, local politicians and newspapers, that the designation for Fire Camp 8 has now been changed to "Camps I" and will be converted to house inmates in February 2010.

In our community, when our kids are playing outside, our biggest worry is the treat of local wildlife (coyotes, rattlesnakes or GOD forbid mountain lion.)  

Opening a PRISON smack in the middle of our community opens all of our families up to a whole new host of treats:

• Escaped inmates seeking refuge.
• Inmate visitors committing crimes of opportunity.
• Increased traffic on our steep windy roads causing accidents and delays.

The one clear benefit is to have a team of trained responders when the next wildfire occurs in our area.

There are two things about which we can be certain; (i) There will be more fires in Malibu and (ii) inmates will absolutely escape from Fire Camp 8 if we allow them to house inmates!  I’ll take the occasional threat of fire over the everyday threat of convicts and their visitors any day of the week!