ESCONDIDO (NEWS 8) – In 1996, a fire swept through the Harmony Grove community in North County, killing one man trapped inside his car. Now, the community is expressing their opposition to a new development project – saying it would create more traffic and increase the time it would take evacuate on a two-lane road.
The Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council filed a lawsuit against the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for amending the General Plan to approve more housing without safe evacuation plans.
“We don’t want to burn in the next fire,” said JP Theberge, the Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council Chair. According to Theberge, the development would create a “mathematical impossibility of getting people out in a safe amount of time” in a case of a fire.
The new development, which was approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, would add 1,600 homes over time – nearly quadrupling the existing 400 current homes.
“If we are going to have hundreds of homes great. Let’s make sure that the infrastructure can accommodate that,” said Jackie Arsivaud, Harmony Grove Town Council.
Residents fear with only one way out on a two-lane road, many could get trapped in the congestion if they all had to evacuate at once.
“Can you imagine a fire barreling down that valley at you? Would you sit here? I sure would not! That is why we are terrified out here,” said Scott Sutherland, on the Harmony Grove Town Council.
As wildfire continue to rage in the Los Angeles/ Ventura Counties and in Northern California, some Escondido residents said they are prepared. “I’ve got my evacuation plans. I have 14 horses. We are thinking about getting ourselves out so that we don’t become a number,” said Joseph Manriete, an area resident.
The Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council will be fronting the legal fees for the lawsuit. They filed suit in August and plan to have their case heard before a judge early next year.