Big Sur clan’s trial by fire

Re “Backfire is right and wrong,” July 7

The only crime committed by the Curtis brothers -- who saved their homes and the homes of others from the Big Sur fires -- was doing something heroic for which the officers of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection couldn’t take credit.

Thanks to The Times for covering this event. Heroes like the Curtis brothers and their friends need to be recognized, not prosecuted by government officials who feel their performance is being threatened.

Phil Wilt

Van Nuys

I’m not surprised by the heroic efforts of the Curtis brothers. Back in 1972, I left L.A. to live in Big Sur, in a cabin just beneath Apple Pie Ridge. Jack Curtis and his beautiful wife, LaVonne, pegged us as city folk with no real sense -- and adopted us and looked after us.

We entered paradise only to experience the previous great fire in Big Sur. We fled; the Curtis clan stayed. The Forest Service at that time had no map of residents and didn’t know about the Apple Pie Ridge compound -- built by Jack with money gained from his writerly gifts (“The Quick and the Dead” is his). Always the Western, independent, pioneering, self-creating and creative individual, Jack stood his ground to save his home.

Could anyone expect his sons not to act similarly? As I sit here in my urban home, I’ve been wondering if the Curtis clan was OK. Of course they are.

Dorothy Clark

Los Angeles