By Kevin Tripp, KABC
Evacuations are over for the Easy Fire after only a few structures were lost around Simi Valley. People are also going home near the Getty Fire and in other blackened communities around Southern California. Fire officials say they were able to work quickly because residents were prepared
Ventura County Fire Spokesman Mike DesForges tells KTLA-5 one key is that, over the years, residents have been doing brush clearance and building defensible spaces
”It pays dividends when you have fires like this, that, you know, we might have seen a thousand homes go up. This fire could have been completely different.”
Of course, the other reason thousands of homes did not burn down – thousands of firefighters with trucks, hoses, helicopters and airplanes were pre-positioned and ready for the numerous and significant brush fires that broke out in the southland this week.