To the editor: It’s scary that the Los Angeles Fire Department is obviously not fully capable of controlling “complex” fires, especially since there are so many industrial facilities throughout our city (“It’s been six days. Why can’t L.A. firefighters put out blaze at Boyle Heights cold storage facility?” June 22). Meanwhile, home insurance is hard to acquire here just because of our natural fire risk.
Why does the city allow buildings that are not adequately fire-protected? Shouldn’t the permitting process ensure that a structure has a plan and system for such emergencies? Who pays for all this ineffective firefighting, the owner of the property or we taxpayers?
No one is compensating for the days lost and health problems incurred from this week’s toxic smoke. It’s all a more serious concern with the huge new data centers showing up everywhere, full of batteries (already using vast amounts of water). How prepared are we to fight an inevitable fire like that?
Michael Sandstrom, Glendale
