Whew! When we read that the fire crossed the head of Mill Creek Canyon, our mind immediately turned to the fire tax that none of us likes. What would it take for the fire to come down into Mill Creek and into Mentone? While we don’t like more or unnecessary taxes, are we close enough to the wilderness to justify paying the tax in order to protect our homes or are we misunderstanding the reason for the tax? If we still lived in Crestline, for example, we could understand – having gone through two fire evacuations. Here in Mentone, not so much until the fire came so close. One usually thinks of big trees burning but in the San Gorgonio Forest it’s just chaparral, which we have around us.
It’s another reason not to allow building in the box canyon east of us, like Orange County wants to do. If you are a fan of old Westerns, like us, you remember how the cowboys captured their victims in box canyons, from which there was no escape. And there would be little-to-no escape for people living in that box canyon, if the present owner had its way in building and selling homes there.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT!
According to the Daily Facts for August 4 and 5, “Overnight into Tuesday morning, the wildfire spread north across the head of Mill Creek Canyon and east into the San Gorgonio Wilderness, which has been closed since Aug. 2 because of the fire.”