Bob Flasher chaired the Berkeley’s Disaster and Fire Safety Commission in the 2010s. Prior to that, he was ranger and firefighter in the Bay Area for a very long career before retiring.
This is his letter to the city council discussing EMBER:
"Mayor and Council,
The anti-fire safety/anti Zone 0 group, which probably refers to itself as a reasonable fire prevention group, has cherry-picked some studies, interpreting them in their favor. The authors of the studies have criticized this group for their cherry- picking.
But they now have at least 200 people in their group who are busy lobbying the city to allow people to keep as many plants as they want in Zone 0.
This is fascinating to me because when people’s cars get old, they get a new one. When people’s spouses get old, they get a new one. When people’s wardrobes get outdated, they get a new one. When people’s dogs and cats die, they get a new one. I don’t understand why plants in Zone 0 should be different, especially when keeping them potentially threatens the lives of everyone in our city.
Berkeley is going out of its way to help people do the required work, including helping low income people remove dangerous vegetation, providing free screening for vents and rain gutters, offering to replace any valuable plants that are removed with less flammable ones.
Please do not respond to criticism of EMBER by “oiling the squeaky wheel.” Too many lives are at stake, including not just citizens, but firefighters from multiple agencies responding to WUI fires. I hope the city resists the pressure from the small minority (250 out of 130,000) and sticks to its guns.
Bob Flasher
Grizzly Peak Neighborhood Watch Coordinator
Retired Disaster and Fire Safety Commissioner"