The Jan. 9 WGAN morning talk show interviewed the new Portland fire chief, Chad Johnston, with respect to the Los Angeles fires disaster. The focus was on how is Portland prepared. His answer, in part, was that fires could be difficult due to the large number of old wooden buildings throughout the city. I’ll add that these buildings are also serviced by natural gas lines.

Contributing largely to our “natural” disasters are political pressures to build anything, anywhere — on step unstable soils (mudslides), in forests, in deserts, on flood plains and eroding seashores. The American public demands it! Allowing these conditions are man-made contrivances, not natural. We know better. Insurance costs are rising for all of us because insurance companies pass along their costs for these events.

In Portland, the ReCode rezoning initiative is requiring or encouraging a much denser man-made environment by allowing new construction closer to property lines and packing more buildings onto existing sites. New construction is assumed “built to code.” But, building to code is the very minimum allowable standard, and code strategies often promote saving lives, not buildings.

Was the Portland Fire Department consulted on ReCode? Will Portland City Council ask the new chief for his opinions on this new code with respect to Portland’s fire hazard?

Robert Kahn
Portland