To the editor: Randall Preserve is a decidedly mixed blessing for the community (“After 27 years of fighting to change the oil field in a nature reserve of the nature of Orange County, the initial plans published,” May 23). Birds and four -legged neighbors are welcome, but the many illegal campers constitute a serious threat of forest fires. The superimposed jurisdictions of the city, the County and the Firefighters district complicate the responsibility of public security. In addition, the mountain recreation conservation authority that now has the property title yet has no control over it because Aera Energy, the oil company responsible for the cleaning of the property, still controls it. Aera energy is not evicting intruders, even stopping the camp.
California firefighters has now designated the Randall Preserve area, and adjacent houses and businesses, a moderate risk of fires. We anticipate the increase in the insurance costs of housing owners. In the last two weeks, a forest fire began in the Preserve Randall and extended to the Orange Talbert Park area before it was published. Fortunately, there was no wind to extend it to our homes. We are very aware that July 4 is just a few weeks and that fireworks, as well as fires, can trigger forest fires.
I urge all parties, especially Aera energy, to expel campers and keep out before suffering a true tragedy.
Kenneth SmithCosta Mesa
