“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” was a pithy saying of one of the nation’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. However, if Franklin were to see the smoldering ruins of the suburbs of Los Angeles and the quarter of a trillion dollar damage assessment from the grass and forest fires earlier this month, he would undoubtedly update his saying to “an ounce of prevention is worth several tons of cure.” The fires in Los Angeles are a recognizable fact of life for us in the Valley, and discussions locally continue to focus on how to engage with better fire mitigation and earlier detection of fire to prevent similar damage to the forested homes in the region. To that effect, U.S. Representative Brittany…