Landowners Hurry to Weed Out Fire Danger : Ventura County: Residents who fail to clear Russian thistle from their property will have to pay crews to do the job under a directive from supervisors.

Wrestling with a yard full of tumbleweeds was not how Debby Seidler and her family wanted to spend their weekend, but they had little choice.

The Camarillo family was among 715 property owners in Ventura County who received notices last month from county fire officials to get rid of the weeds.

The tumbleweed--or more specifically the Russian thistle--creates a fire hazard every fall when the spiny weeds proliferate, break from their roots and congregate in sometimes huge piles of tinder-dry brush. The dry Santa Ana winds now buffeting the county exacerbate the fire danger.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors gave the go-ahead Tuesday to unleash work crews to remove the weeds in areas where property owners have failed to clear them. The cost of the task, plus a $221 administrative charge, will be added to the owners’ tax bill.

Like the Seidlers, most property owners already have cleaned up their property, said Terry Raley, who heads the weed-abatement program for the Ventura County Fire Department. For those who haven’t, the bill can run from $500 to $2,000.

For the Seidlers, there was never a question about whether to remove the tumbleweeds that grow on their half-acre lot.

“I hate them,” Debby Seidler said. “I agree with the county, although I don’t appreciate getting the notice in the mail.”

Removing the ubiquitous thistle was a family affair involving her husband, David Seidler, and their two children, Eric, 12, and Becky, 9. It took a full day and, in the end, their hands were covered with scratches.

She said her husband came up with a rather ingenious method of uprooting the weeds. They wrapped a rope around the bush near the roots and each took an end of the rope and pulled.

They dragged the tumbleweed to a trailer where they placed a piece of plywood on top of the bushes and flattened them by jumping on them. The remains filled an entire truckload. They then hauled it to the dump.

“It was not a pleasant job,” she said.

Next year Debby Seidler hopes that the yard will be landscaped and her tumbleweed problems will be over.

The tumbleweed-abatement program is part of a larger weed-abatement program that goes on in the spring. Last spring about 22,000 property owners received notices to rid their land of weeds.

Tumbleweeds present a problem each fall when they grow and ultimately detach from their roots in early November. Santa Ana winds often accelerate the process, scattering the tumbling weeds everywhere.

“When they break loose, they blow against a building and that’s when it becomes a fire problem,” Raley said.

Early in the fall, county fire officials at various stations do a tumbleweed inspection in their jurisdictions. On Oct. 13, they sent letters to owners of property where tumbleweeds are poised to create a fire hazard. The weeds must be cleared at least 100 feet from a structure. Owners have a month before crews under contract with the county make their move.

“We can’t do it for beautification, only for fire hazards,” said Terrill Tyner, fire captain at the Santa Rosa Road station.

After 15 years, compliance with the tumbleweed abatement program has steadily improved, Raley said. This year, he expects crews to clear far fewer lots than in the past.

Some property owners are just as happy to have the county clear their property and bill them.

Others are not, said firefighter Rod Megli. “We get people who threaten to shoot us with guns.”