"I feel unsafe and very let down," Barbara said. "Our neighborhood was burning and we had no heads up. At this point, I'd rather settle for building bell towers and putting Quasimodo ringing a bell over what we have currently."
Her husband Neil is appalled that San Diego doesn't have enough firefighters, stations or equipment -- a reality that's particularly stark in Rancho Bernardo where the community has had one fire station with four firefighters since 1969, despite an addition of 35,000 people.
"It's a complete disgrace," Neil said. "This community needs to stand up and hold the politicians accountable and I don't think we've done that." The Levines have tried. They've complained at community meetings.
City officials offer sympathy and compassion. But some have downplayed the need for more equipment and firefighters. They argue more would not have made a dramatic difference in the fires because the winds were so strong.
But some fire officials disagree. They say they needed more engines. They needed more airpower. They needed more firefighters.
In fairness, the San Diego City Council twice asked voters to approve higher taxes on visitors to pay for more firefighting resources. Voters said no. But one measure didn't require the revenue be spent on firefighting. Neither measure had full backing of the City Council. And they went on the ballot when media coverage of the city's pension debt was intensifying.
So who should be held responsible here? Politicians or voters?
Some say both. UCSD political science professor Steve Erie says politicians have not been courageous or honest enough to tell voters taxes must go up to provide the fire protection they need. "I don't think that San Diegans have been asked to sacrifice since World War II." To change this deep-seated mindset, Erie says the region needs leadership:
Leadership is plain, straight talk by politicians to the people. It means explaining the problem clearly. Educating them on what the city and the county have in firefighting manpower and equipment and what is needed. Sort of like what President Franklin Roosevelt did during one of his fireside chats on the banking crisis of 1933. He started his conversation with the people about the "bad banking situation" with these words, "I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, and why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be."
He ends by telling the public the government has a plan to restore the financial system. But he follows that with a very crucial point, "It is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem, my friends, your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail."
-- Amita Sharma is an investigative reporter for KPBS.
