Goats eat, our homes stay safe

Re “Blazes know no season,” Feb. 11

Fires burned in Orange County and Los Angeles County last week — in February, the middle of winter — reminding us once again that we must take steps to prevent fire from burning down our communities and destroying lives.

One of the most effective ways to control brush is by hosting goats to graze on the brush and clear weeds from city-owned properties and common areas. This has been used in many cities and has proved effective.

To mitigate the risk of fires breaking out in other areas, we must take action and responsibility for our city-owned areas by cleaning up the brush.

Although not always the least expensive solution, placing goats in areas that are harder to reach or difficult to clean is a great solution and more environmentally friendly than some alternatives. Megan Flohra Yorba Linda

In my reading of the article about the two recent fires, one in Orange County and one in Los Angeles County, I found myself wondering at the descriptions of the fire areas that the writers used.

In three separate paragraphs, the Laguna fire was described as being in an “affluent community,” near two “gated communities with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean,” and with flames headed toward “multimillion-dollar homes.”

The Los Angeles County fire was described merely as having erupted “near Whittier,” in which the flames “destroyed two homes and damaged another.”

Am I left to decide if the location and monetary value of the Orange County homes made it all the more important that they weren’t damaged? Or is it that the homes that the L.A. County fire destroyed and damaged were not important enough?

Elise Power Garden Grove