Shekell fire creates long-lasting losses
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Photo courtesy City of Moorpark BIRD’SEYE VIEW—Moorpark officials took a helicopter ride to view the firedamaged areas surrounding the city on Monday. The orchard shown is among several fields that sustained damage during the Shekell fire that burned through Moorpark Dec. 2. Officials believe the trees in this photo belong to the Schwabauer family; however, officials said they are still in the process of confirming the locations shown in the flight photos.

In addition to burning homes, unoccupied structures and dry brush, the fire that whipped through Moorpark on Dec. 2 caused significant damage to local crops.

“The same general area was burned during the 2003 fires, and for many of the ranchers, this is a second hit for them,” said David Buettner, chief deputy agricultural commissioner for Ventura County.

As of late last week about 36 ranches were identified as having substantial losses, but that may change, he said.

County officials estimated the agricultural industry will lose $2.3 million in revenue due to the fire. About 113 acres of avocado trees, 83 acres of orange orchards and 67 acres of lemon trees were affected, a report indicated.

Patty Waters, who lost 90 acres of valuable orchards and row crops to the fire, expressed her concerns to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors last week.

“We’ve had a devastating fire in an agricultural area,” said Waters, seeking help from county officials so she can continue to farm. The 2003 fire didn’t cause this type of damage, she said.

“A few trees caught on fire, but nothing burned like in the Shekell fire.”

Ranchers are trying to preserve agriculture in the county, but the task is increasingly difficult, she said, voicing concern that taxes may increase when farmers replant their orchards.

“We’re struggling to stay alive and farm in this area,” Waters said in a later interview.

Residents who live in nearby cities benefit from the farming because the orchards provide oxygen to clean the air and create attractive buffers between inhabited areas, but ranchers don’t have much incentive to continue on, she said.

While Ventura County residents don’t want urban sprawl, there’s nothing in the Save Our Open Spaces and Agricultural Resources law to help the farmers stay here, Waters said.

The recent losses will have a long-lasting impact on farmers because it can take a decade before new trees begin to yield fruit.

“Farmers would much rather see their house burn down—it can be rebuilt in two years. But it takes up to 10 years to get tree crops going again,” said Waters.

“It’s devastating to ranchers that they lost a lot of their orchards, if not all of them,” said outgoing 4th District County Supervisor Judy Mikels.

The investigation into the fire is ongoing, and opinions shouldn’t be formed before the results are revealed, Mikels suggested.

MGR Designs International Inc., which operated out of the former Egg City complex, burned to the ground.

County reports indicate that possible code violations at the site included the storage of combustibles, which some believe caused the fire to spread toward nearby orchards, one of which was destroyed. Several county departments could have information on the code violations, but the departments were not sharing their findings.

Incoming 4th District Supervisor Peter Foy said ranchers were particularly concerned that MGR Designs may have intensified the fire. But farmers agree that the fire department did a great job in managing and controlling what could have been a greater disaster, Foy said.

According to Foy, who spoke with the county tax assessor, taxes won’t increase if the ranchers are simply replacing what they had.

“Actually, there could even be a temporary tax reduction because the trees don’t produce right away,” Foy said. Ranchers will pay additional taxes only if they decide to add more trees or make improvements that weren’t there before, he said.

A part-time rancher, Foy is particularly sensitive to the needs of farmers. Although he doesn’t personally depend on his ranch in the Tierra Rejada Valley to survive, many ranchers in the county do, he said.

“Farming is a business and you have to invest in the business and wait until the crops mature to a point where they can produce something you can make money on. That’s why the fire was so devastating,” Foy said.

Properties damaged by misfortune or calamity are reassessed to reflect the losses. Once the property is replaced, the as

sessor brings the property value back up to where it was, said Dave Whaley, principal appraiser for Ventura County.

In the case of nut and fruit trees, there is an exemption period of four years: the trees don’t become assessable until the fifth year because it takes time for them to produce again, Whaley said.