Under cloudy skies at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta, residents formed a line in their cars to receive sandbags in preparation for El Niño storms, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The free Saturday event was part of a countywide effort to help communities get ready for the heavy rains forecast in the coming months, a particular concern for La Crescenta residents nestled right at the base of the Angeles National Forest.
“The rains … are expected to be so heavy in February and March that the time to prepare is right now,” said Stephanie English, spokeswoman for the fire department. “We’re trying to support [residents] as much as we can and get everybody ready.”
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Los Angeles County Fire Dept. personnel from Camp Crew 2 and 9 and LA Co. La Cañada fire station 19 helped distribute 1,000 pre-filled sandbags to local residents at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. The firefighters also filled an additional 2,000 sandbags with sand brought in from the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Besides picking up needed sandbags, local resident Russell Barcolett of La Crescenta also received an Emergency Survival Guide from Los Angeles County Fire Dept. personnel during distribution of 1,000 pre-filled sandbags at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. The firefighters also filled an additional 2,000 sandbags with sand brought in from the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Los Angeles County Fire Dept. La Cañada fire station 19 engineer Richard Pryor, center, helped distribute 1,000 pre-filled sandbags to local residents at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. Firefighters from station 19 and from Camp Crew 2 and 9, also filled an additional 2,000 sandbags with sand brought in from the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Local resident Kacey Anderson, left, received informational material from local CERT assistant instructor Jennifer Dutton, right, during Los Angeles County Fire Dept. sandbag distribution at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. The firefighters passed out 1,000 pre-filled sandbags and filled an additional 2,000 sandbags with sand brought in from the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Los Angeles County Fire Dept. Camp Crew 9 Fire Suppression Aid Mike Chandless, left, and Camp Crew 9 foreman Mike Godde, right, filled sandbags during distribution at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. L.A. Co. firefighters passed out 1,000 pre-filled sandbags and also filled an additional 2,000 bags with sand brought in from the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Los Angeles County Fire Dept. Camp Crew 9 members Steven Resendez, left, and Nick Danischewsky, right, helped pass out 1,000 pre-filled sandbags to local residents at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. Firefighters from fire station 19 and Camp Crew 2 along with Camp Crew 9 also filled an additional 2,000 sandbags with sand brought in from recent rains in the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Los Angeles County Fire Dept. La Cañada fire station 19 engineer Richard Pryor, left, and Steven Resendez, Camp 9 Fire Suppression Aid, right, helped distribute 1,000 pre-filled sandbags to local residents at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. Firefighters from station 19 and from Camp Crew 2 and 9, also filled an additional 2,000 sandbags with sand brought in from the Antelope Valley. Anyone needed additional sandbags can pick up more at their local fire department.
(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
A few dozen firefighters from Fire Camp 9 and local fire stations, as well as volunteers with La Crescenta’s Community Emergency Response Team, took care of all the heavy lifting, forming an assembly line to heft the roughly 30-pound bags into the hundreds of cars and trucks that passed through.
The giveaway began about half an hour ahead of the scheduled 9 a.m. start, thanks to roughly a dozen drivers lined up nice and early to get their fresh morning sand.
Event coordinator Grant Grunbaum, an engineer at La Crescenta’s Fire Station No. 63, said turnout was more than expected.
“We’ve been going now for an hour and a half and we’ve already gone through 800 of the pre-filled bags,” he said, refering to the 1,000 sandbags that were loaded onto a flat-bed truck, now mostly empty.
“This was great, said La Crescenta resident Gretchen Smart as firefighters loaded up her trunk with ten sandbags. “I’m too old to heave them around.”
Smart said a friend was going to help her unload them and place them at some problem spots around her home.
Attendees could also take home the county’s “Emergency Survival Guide,”which included tips on how to place their sandbags, what to do in the event of floods and other emergency advice.
A 10-bag limit was placed at the event based on demand and so firefighters could spread the help to as many people as possible.
Grunbaum noted that many fire stations, including No. 63, have sand and sometimes bags available to freely take any time — up to 20 per person.
Dump trucks dropped additional mounds of sand in a corner of the parking lot — enough to fill another 2,000 bags. Fire crews used shovels to fill the bags, stacked them, then carried them to awaiting vehicles.
“You’ve got to be in shape,” said La Crescenta CERT member Tom Roth. “If you’re in shape it’s not a big deal.”
When the event ended at 3 p.m., an estimated 2,600 sandbags had been handed out, according to Grunbaum.
The feedback from residents was “positive and thankful,” he said. “All in all it was a good day.”
Ryan Fonseca writes the Los Angeles Times’ Essential California newsletter. A lifelong SoCal native, he has worked in a diverse mix of newsrooms across L.A. County, including radio, documentary, print and television outlets. Most recently, he was an associate editor for LAist.com and KPCC-FM (89.3) public radio, covering transportation and mobility. He returns to The Times after previously working as an assistant web editor for Times Community News, where he helped manage the websites and social media presence of the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and La Cañada Valley Sun. Fonseca studied journalism at Cal State Northridge, where he now teaches the next generation of journalists to develop their voice and digital skills.