Crews Tackle Massive Job of Weed Abatement

As fire season rapidly approaches, the Los Angeles Fire Department is taking on the herculean task of trying to clear about 8,000 hillside properties of fire-feeding brush.

The job would be easier if property owners complied with the new city requirement to cut brush and trim trees within 200 feet of any structure and 10 feet of a roadway, fire officials said.

After issuing more than 20,000 noncompliance notices--up from 15,000 in 1997--to property owners earlier this year, fire officials said about 8,000 still have not cleared overgrown lots.

“It is important to clear your properties of brush for the safety of the surrounding community, and it’s the law,” said Fire Capt. Paul Quagliata, head of the city’s fire prevention bureau.

Brush-fire season generally runs from October to April, fire officials said.

Last week, private contractors hired by the Fire Department cleared lots at various mountain and canyon areas throughout the city, including the San Fernando Valley.

For example, owners of a vacant lot in Sylmar hired contractors recommended by the Fire Department.

A small bulldozer fitted with a high-powered cutting blade mowed down brush growing on an 18-acre parcel at Eldridge Avenue and Harding Street just south of Mission College. The lot is owned by St. Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church of Burbank.

The church responded to a noncompliance notice and paid Ray Byers & Co. of Castaic to clear the brush. The contractor is one of several companies the Fire Department hires to remove brush on hillside properties.

For four hours, bulldozer operator Pat Corrigan worked to clear a 2-acre section of the parcel that is within 200 feet of Mary Ann Dib’s single-family home in the 12900 block of Harding Street.

“It’s a relief to see them clearing the brush,” Dib said, watching through her fence as the bulldozer passed over the lot, leaving a cloud of light brown dust in its wake.

“We get a lot of wind coming up from the canyon,” she said. “If the brush ever did catch fire, it would come over here and jeopardize our house.”

In a separate development Friday, Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson introduced a motion calling for property owners who are not in compliance with the city’s brush clearance ordinance to be held responsible for the costs of fighting fires that spread from their properties.

The motion raised some question of whether existing laws already provide the ability to recover costs from liable parties. Bernson’s proposal, which won support from the council in intent, was referred to committee. “It’s a motivation to people to do the work if they are reminded they are going to be responsible,” Bernson said.

The number of violations have increased 25% this year because the council approved a new stricter city code requiring that brush within 200 feet of structures be removed, rather than the previous 100-foot regulation, Quagliata said.

Following the Malibu fire, representatives of numerous homeowners associations in Santa Monica Mountains communities met with Fire Department officials to request that the city ordinance requiring the clearance of brush within 100 feet of a structure and 10 feet of a roadway be expanded to 200 feet, Quagliata said.

Fire officials then lobbied the City Council to approve the new stricter regulation, which became effective May 5, 1997, he said.

For 17 years, the city’s brush fire clearance unit has employed seven inspectors, Quagliata said, and has operated since 1993 on an annual budget of $455,000.

To cope this year with the large number of lots that must be cleared, fire officials have adopted a triage approach of clearing the most hazardous properties first, with others cut and trimmed as time and resources allow.

Last winter’s El Nino-driven rainstorms caused grass to grow thicker and taller and summer’s triple-digit temperatures dried the brush, creating a dangerous fire condition, he said.

Property owners who violate the brush clearance ordinance will have their lots cleared by private contractors hired by the Fire Department, he said. The cost, plus a $250 administrative fee, will be added to their property tax bills.

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Times staff writer Jill Leovy contributed to this story.

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Rules for Mountain

Fire Areas

0 to 100 feet from structures

* Grass and weeds: Cut to 3 inches

* Native shrubs: Space a minimum of 18 feet apart

* All shrubs: Trim up from the ground 1/3 of height

* Small trees: Remove lower branches to 1/3 of height

* Trees over 18 feet: Remove foliage within 6 feet of ground

* All trees: No foliage within 10 feet of chimney

* Roofs: Clear of leaves and other combustibles 100 to 200 feet from structures

* Heavy brush: Reduce by 50%

Source: Los Angeles Fire Department