Carousel Ranch fire bill rescinded REVERSAL: Equestrian therapy group had been ordered to pay $3 million.Byline: Jerry Berrios, Staff Writer Under pressure from local lawmakers, state officials have rescinded a demand that nonprofit Carousel Ranch pay $3 million to cover the cost of fighting the 2007 Buckweed Fire. Cal Fire sent a certified letter certified letter n (US) → lettre recommandée certified letter (US) n → Einschreibebrief m certified letter n last month to the Agua Dulce-based charity, claiming it was potentially liable for the October 2007 fire that burned 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes. Carousel Ranch, provides equestrian equestrian a rider of horses. therapy for special-needs children and has an annual budget of roughly $500,000, was given 30 days to pay. "That is something that would close our program," said Denise Tomey, the charity's executive director. "We have worked our entire lives to help children." They contacted state Sen. George Runner George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25 1952 in Scotia, New York) is a Republican California State Senator, who represents the 17th Senate District, which includes portions of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County. and Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Cameron Smyth Cameron Smyth is a Republican who has represented Califoria's 38th Assembly district since December of 2006. He succeeded Keith Richman who was term limited. Prior to being elected to the state legislature, Assemblyman Smyth served on the Santa Clarita City Council, where he , who intervened on their behalf. Following a meeting Monday in Smyth's office in Sacramento, Cal Fire officials agreed to withdraw the demand. "New information was brought forward from a letter that was provided from the ranch to the two legislators," said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. "After reviewing that, that is when we were able to rescind To declare a contract void—of no legal force or binding effect—from its inception and thereby restore the parties to the positions they would have occupied had no contract ever been made. rescind v. that letter of demand." Berlant said he didn't know what that new information was or whether Carousel Ranch will receive a new letter officially withdrawing the demand. Smyth said it was clear that Carousel Ranch was the wrong group to bill. "This is what we were elected to do," said Smyth, R-Santa Clarita. "When groups or individuals are caught up in the state bureaucracy, we can fight for our constituents." The Buckweed Fire started in October 2007 when the then-9-year-old son of a Carousel Ranch caretaker, who lived in a mobile home on the property, was playing with matches. "In no way were we responsible for watching over this child," Tomey said. State law allows Cal Fire to demand payment of firefighting 1. firefighting - What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden operational problems. An opposite of hacking. "Been hacking your new newsreader?" "No, a power glitch hosed the network and I spent the whole afternoon fighting fires." 2. costs from those they believe may be responsible. "The whole process is done in an effort to recover taxpayer dollars which were spent on suppressing fires," Berlant said. Tomey found out about the state's reversal on Monday afternoon. "Now we can focus on what we do and the important things," she said. jerry.berrios@dailynews.com 661-257-5253 |
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