DROUGHT, SUMMER'S ARRIVAL SPARK FEAR OF RAGING BRUSH FIRES IN REGION

June 21, 2007
By EUGENE TONG
Staff Writer

Firefighters trying to show homeowners the do's and dont's of brush-fire protection could simply point to Rodney Kemerer's backyard in Benedict Canyon.

On the hill behind Kemerer's house, a 200-foot-wide fire break dotted with water sprinklers extends across the length of his property -- the recommended barrier between brush and structures in this hilly area between Studio City and Beverly Hills.

But thick, tinder-dry vegetation covers the same slope behind Kemerer's neighbor's house, posing a serious fire risk.

``It's the flip of a cigarette,'' Kemerer, vice president of the Benedict Canyon Association, said Wednesday. ``It's an easy ignition point, and it becomes an example to the rest of the community. If that guy didn't clear it, why should I?''

With today's official start of summer and a record dry year, some hillside residents' and fire officials' nerves are increasingly on edge as they confront what has seemed like an endless, year-round fire season in Southern California.

Since July, Los Angeles has received a scant 3.21 inches of rain, and wildfires -- including the nearly 1,000-acre blaze that burned a quarter of Griffith Park last month -- have increased from 296 in the first six months of last year to more than 2,100 so far this year.

``There has not been a break,'' said Capt. Antoine McKnight, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman. ``The fire season has been one continuous one. We just have to be very vigilant.''

Capt. Mike Brown of the Los Angeles County Fire Department agreed. Officials have augmented crews stationed in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, he said.

``The faster you attack a fire, the less time it has to spread,'' McKnight said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Power has cleared dry brush from all its major properties, including the Encino and Chatsworth reservoirs, and lots in Franklin Canyon, Stone Canyon, Hollywood and Pacific Palisades.

Clearance is key

Work at a handful of 31 smaller properties is scheduled to be completed next week, LADWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said. Officials stepped up efforts after a downed power line in Franklin Canyon sparked a fire that charred three homes in April.

``We take brush clearance very seriously and we work very cooperatively with the Fire Department to ensure our properties are cleared by their crews,'' Ramallo said.

But some people still don't seem to get the message. Just over the weekend, firefighters in Benedict Canyon responded to reports of someone burning trash in a backyard.

And the LAFD has received at least 36 reports of illegal burning just this month.

``They need to be more careful and not just consider what they're doing, but consider the community,'' McKnight said. ``You're not supposed to burn your trash. You're not supposed to burn your yard waste. But we still find people doing things like that.''

As hot, dry and windy conditions forced a second day of a red-flag warning over Los Angeles County on Wednesday, the parched region experienced three small fires -- a blaze in Sunland charred 10 acres; a fire in the Santa Clarita Valley burned about 3 acres; and a grass fire burned briefly near Bel Air Presbyterian Church in the Sepulveda Pass.

The red-flag warning was expected to continue until 9 tonight. But the looming wildfire threat will linger for many, including Ana Bebekian of Stevenson Ranch.

When flames raged along the dry hills cradling her upscale community in 2003, Bebekian and her husband took photographs and video of their home before fleeing with their two young children.

``We've just been really careful and afraid,'' she said. She pointed across the street. ``This whole hill was burned.''

Meanwhile, dry brush filled trash cans and Dumpsters along Running Horse Road in Placerita Canyon, where the 6,000-acre Foothill Fire roared through in 2004.

Defensible space

The neighborhood ``was like an island; both sides of it were burning,'' said Ken Price, a retired studio prop maker.

Price said he spends at least an hour a week now clearing brush around his property.

For firefighters, that 200-foot buffer between a home and brush is the difference between survival and tragedy.

``It gives firefighters a defensible space for the home, and a space to retreat in case the fire gets away,'' McKnight said. ``If you live in a very high-hazard zone, you have to clear your brush.''

An early start

In Los Angeles County, Brown said officials this year began brush clearance inspections in January -- two months before the typical start in March.

``The field moisture is extremely low,'' Brown said. ``If a fire gets going, it could be really serious.''

The LAFD also conducts inspections, but McKnight said homeowners shouldn't wait until a fire inspector is at their door.

``If you live in those areas, you know already what needs to be done,'' McKnight said.

In Benedict Canyon, resident Cory Wellman, 57, said she can still picture the dense black smoke that covered the region when a fire raged on the hill across from her last year.

For her, every driver along the windy road with a cigarette dangling from the window spells trouble.

``It is always scary,'' she said. ``And people are really concerned. ... Fire season here -- there's no beginning and no end. It's just constant.''

Staff Writer Brandon Lowrey contributed to this story.