Heschel in center of wildfire zone

Having grown up in the hills of Sherman Oaks, I am very aware of the nature of brush fires, but nothing had prepared me for the firestorm potential which exists in Cheeseboro Canyon Park and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy area.

The evacuation of hundreds of homes and livestock with only one way out in the middle of the night, with the bright orange flames and dark smoke looming over us, was most closely depicted as a horror movie. That fire a couple of years ago, fortunately, did not possess the same devastating wind potential of last month's firestorms- that time.

The question is, are Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and the other supervisors and council members whose appointed duty is to be looking out for their city and neighboring communities' wellbeing, prepared to take the responsibility for placing so many residents, livestock, Heschel School faculty, students and their families in such danger? It's not a matter of if, but when.

The concept of a school placed in a known wildfire path adjacent to open parkland has the potential for the making of a horrific disaster movie. There is nothing that would prevent me from getting to my child in an emergency situation. Nothing. Combine the chaos of a school evacuation with a residential evacuation, especially of all the area livestock, with just one way out and you would have a premeditated disaster. Nature has a mind of its own and is ultimately more powerful and unforgiving than man and all of his money and demands. Fires do not always choose the most convenient time to occur.

Please write to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and the other supervisors and council members involved with this ludicrous proposal. They have a responsibility to all the taxpayers concerned and need to be more realistic than apparently the Heschel supporters are. Let's not let this project slip through as a loophole in politics. It will burden Agoura Hills residents with taxes and haunt us forever.

Please attend the scheduled meeting at Los Angeles City Hall on Nov. 27 at 9 a.m. It's crucial. Carleen DeFranco Agoura Hills