Fined for Saving His Home

The California wild fires are wreaking havoc with the state, destroying homes, property, businesses and lives. The tragedy is horrific and the human cost is unbearable. Our prayers go out to those in need and to everyone displaced by the wild fires.

The EPA on the other hand, considers other issues more important, specifically fining a family for taking steps that saved their home from devastation. While they didn't lose their home to a fire, they may now lose it to the government.

California residents are familiar with the various Environmental Regulations that curtail what they can and cannot do with their land. Prohibitions on fertilizers legal in the rest of the country, restrictions on watering and limitations on plowing are common. Some of these rules, such as limits on watering in time of drought, are reasonable. Others are not as easy to explain.

There are a number of endangered rodents in Southern California, and because these rare and exotic varieties of mouse are few in number, people whose property is infested with them find themselves banned from plowing, poisoning or in some cases even fertilizing on their own land.

This would not be a major issue in fire prevention if it were not for the common, and effective, practice of digging a trench to prevent fire from spreading into an area. The goal is to churn up the soil to the point where there's s strip devoid of flammable materials. Think of it as a dirt moat, meant to keep out fire instead of intruders. A home or ranch properly defended can survive most wildfires. The flames lick to the boarder of the dirt moat, thie fire break, but fail to cross.

Many have found in the current dry conditions and high winds smaller moats of 20 to 30 feet in width were not enough to keep burning embers from blowing onto their proeprty.

Jason Salazar and his family live in a neighborhood that was a ranch just ten years ago. New House construction was brought to a halt six years ago when it was leaned that one of these endangered rodents lived in the area. Digging a fire break is illegal, because it would destroy the habitat of an endangered mouse.

The fires ravaging California forced Jason to ignore those regulations. He and his neighbors borrowed some equipment from a nearby farm and dug a trench around several of the homes in the neighborhood. Some neighbors refused to participate, which resulted in the moat being irregularly shaped.

Earlier this week the wildfires swept through the neighborhood, destroying the grassland and most of the homes. Jason Salazar, his family and the neighbors who joined him in his rebellion, were speared, their homes protected by the fire break they'd constructed.

On the morning of Thursday, October 25th, 2007, Jason was served with papers informing him of a $763,000 fine for "Destroying the habitat of an endangered species." It seems the EPA can, in this current crisis, spare the manpower to investigate and fine people for saving their homes.

Jason's neighbors have not yet been fined, but they're expecting it, and soon.

Jason and his family will need to sell their home to even begin paying the fine, but most of their home's value was borrowed. They are currently researching bankruptcy options.

Their hope is that by publicizing this atrocity the EPA can be shamed into making a Hardship Exception to the fine, thus allowing these families to keep their homes. If that doesn't work, they'll appeal to the legal system. I will post new information as it develops.