PINES FIRE VICTIMS SEEK ANSWERS IN CLAIMS DELAY

Landslide Threat Adds to Area's Woes

JULIAN - With three young children in tow, Glenn and Jennifer Smith
braved the cold and blustery weather yesterday morning to have their
voices heard.

The Smith family has been out of business and out of its home since a
National Guard helicopter on a federal drug surveillance mission hit a
power line July 29 and ignited the 62,000-acre Pines fire near Julian.

"We're not going to let this thing die or get swept under the carpet,"
said Jennifer Smith, 32. "We aren't seeking to gain anything other
than simply what we lost."

They are not alone. About 35 people whose property was damaged or
destroyed by the fire attended a 21/2-hour town hall meeting with
local officials to find out when the federal government would
reimburse them for their losses.

Congressman Darrell Issa, who spearheaded the meeting, assured
everyone that he would continue fighting to expedite the claims process.

"They're only waiting on the authority to pay," Issa said of the Drug
Enforcement Administration, which took over the claims process from
the California National Guard. "The only question is, can we get it
moved up since it's really taken longer than it should."

Jack Hook, San Diego's DEA assistant special agent in charge,
apologized for the delay, but said the Department of Justice first
must complete a thorough review of all the facts.

"We want you folks to get your money; it's taken way too long for that
to happen," Hook said. "We want to do it as quickly as possible for
you folks to get on with your lives. It's a tragic situation. We're
very sorry it happened. You have every right to think evil things of
the federal government."

All claims will be processed within six months of their filing dates,
said Lt. Steve Watkins of the National Guard.

If there is no outcome, victims can sue.

"They're going to get taken care of, eventually," Watkins
said.

Some property owners, expressed frustration over the government's
strict requirements to show proof of ownership. Others said they
didn't know how to assess the value of some of their lost property,
such as a 100-year-old tree.

"Most fires, there is nobody you can attach blame to," Edmund Gibbs
said. "But this one, there is an origin of blame. Everybody has lost
something."

People such as Jennifer Smith worry the fire's damage isn't done as a
series of winter storms hits the county.

"Now our home is under a flood and landslide watch so we can't go
back," she said.

Douglass Isbell, the county's deputy director of public works, said at
least four Ranchita-area homes have been identified as being
vulnerable to floods or mudslides. Those homes have been protected
with concrete barriers, Isbell said. The county also has made 10,000
sandbags available.

The homes that would have been most in danger of flood or mudslides as
an aftermath of the fire were burned, he said.

"We haven't had much rain on that side of the mountain yet," Isbell
said. "We've been lucky so far."

Jennifer Smith, who named her 4-week-old daughter Ashley-Ann in part
because of the fire, said she feels like she and her neighbors twice
have been victimized by the federal government: first with the fire,
and then by keeping them in limbo for so long.

"This fire situation has basically left a big hole in the hearts of
many," she said.