Fire engines need space on Laguna streets, City Council says

The Laguna Beach City Council last week unanimously supported, in concept, a pilot program that would ban parking on one or both sides of certain streets to allow fire engines enough space to battle a blaze or handle life-threatening emergency.

Laguna’s narrow, steep and curved streets create challenges for firefighters who, in some cases, must park engines hundreds of feet away from a fire and haul equipment such as hoses to a scene, officials said.

The city’s Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee and Fire Department have worked on the idea, which takes ambulance and police vehicles into account, for the last year and will hold at least one community meeting, gather feedback and return to the council later this year with a recommendation.

“We have parking access problems 24/7, 365,” Laguna Beach Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse said, calling the program a “life-saving matter.”

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Committee members and firefighters went on a ride-along last fall through several neighborhoods, including Old Top of the World, Bluebird Canyon, Arch Beach Heights, Alta Vista, Temple Hills and Diamond-Crestview.

Targeted streets include: Corona Way, Duarte Way, Encina Way, Fontana Way, Hermosa Way, Iris Way, Juanita Way, Kilo Way, Lomita Way, Nido Way, Pala Way, Queda Way, Avenue W and San Clemente Street, according to a city staff report.

Committee member Sonny Myers has seen fire crews pull gurneys and other equipment hundreds of feet because engines didn’t have enough room to drive closer to the scene.

“I don’t know how they do it with a fire truck,” Myers, a general contractor in Laguna for more than 30 years, said. “I’m just trying to get a pickup truck on some of these streets.

“We have to have a plan in place. Someone is going to die, I hate to say it.”

Under the state’s fire code, new streets must be 36 feet wide if cars are parked on both sides of the road, 20 feet with no cars and 28 feet with cars on one side.

Since some of Laguna’s streets pre-date state rules, they are not required to widen roads to meet those standards, LaTendresse said.

Laguna’s engines are 12 feet wide. LaTendresse told the council that 14 feet would give firefighters room to unload and carry equipment.

LaTendresse said the test program could last a year, about the same time as an experiment held last year in the Diamond-Crestview neighborhood.

In that program, the city could ticket or tow cars parked on certain streets during high-fire warning days.

But no red-flag days occurred during that span, leaving fire authorities without any data to review as they mulled the current concept.

The National Weather Service issues red-flag warnings when humidity readings and wind speeds reach certain levels.

Councilman Kelly Boyd suggested another tactic in keeping streets clear.

“If people take all their stuff out of their garages and and get rid of it, and put their car in the garage where it belongs, we wouldn’t have much of this problem,” Boyd said.

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Bryce Alderton, bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce