By Emily Guerin | laist
It’s a real estate paradox: the most desirable places to live are also among the most susceptible to wildfires.
Mansions in the Santa Monica Mountains, tiny cabins tucked into the Angeles National Forest, and houses at the very edge of subdivisions are all beautiful because they’re surrounded by undeveloped land. But what makes them beautiful is also what makes them dangerous. That nearby wild land is highly flammable.
Every year in California, there seems to be a bigger, crazier, more destructive wildfire. But every year, new houses go up in their path. And it’s not just some houses, but thousands of houses — over 85,000 new houses in high fire risk areas in L.A. County alone, between 1990 and 2010.
Shouldn’t we know better by now? Why do we keep building houses in places that are likely to burn? I’ve reported countless wildfires over the years and this question continues to bother me.
I finally decided to answer it.
