Flood Control in Westlake, Newhall Areas : Burned Canyons Will Be Reseeded

Los Angeles County fire officials said Monday that they have decided to reseed canyon areas burned by brush fires above Westlake Village and Newhall to prevent flooding this winter.

The replanting plans were announced as residents close to the two fire zones stepped up vegetation removal in a wildfire season that threatens to become the worst in memory.

Fire officials said surveys indicate that reseeding with rye grass is needed at the sites of a June 30 blaze that burned 3,800 acres south of Westlake Village’s Lake Sherwood and a July 11 fire that blackened 300 acres near a Newhall mobile home park.

“About 50% of the Sherwood fire, roughly 1,900 acres, will be reseeded,” said Joe Ferrara, senior deputy forester with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “Our intention is to probably do it in November. It would be counterproductive to reseed now. A little rain like we had Friday would germinate it and the winds this fall would kill the grass.”

Hillsides to Be Replanted

The hillsides above Crescent Valley Mobile Estates at 23500 The Old Road in Newhall will also be replanted by a helicopter-borne seed dispenser, Ferrara said.

Rye grass is often planted by fire officials after major brush fires to make denuded slopes more stable in rainy weather.

Last year, however, country foresters decided against reseeding a 404-acre Topanga Canyon brush-fire site after studying the flooding danger and conferring with environmentalists who opposed the replanting. The environmentalists argued that the rye removes large amounts of nutrients and retards regrowth of native plants.

Replanting Favored

The latest replanting plans were welcomed at the 88-space Crescent Valley mobile home park.

“I certainly favor reseeding,” said Wes Taylor, whose mobile home coach sits in a narrow gully that was burned on its three steep sides. “We’ve mentioned it to the park management. I don’t know how the fire didn’t get my place.”

In the Westlake Village area, officials said no homes are in ravines that would be hit as hard by flooding as Taylor’s. But, they said, Lake Sherwood, north of the fire site, could catch tons of mud and silt washed from the scorched hillsides in a major storm.

Sandbags Ready

At Lake Sherwood’s fire station, Ventura County firefighter Bill Rice said sandbags already are in stock for use by local residents.

But, because months of dry, dangerous weather lie ahead, many mountain residents are still more concerned about removing vegetation than growing it.

On a hilltop above Agoura, Swen Peterson said he is taking no chances with anything flammable around his 1-year-old home. After watching nervously from his living room as smoke poured from recent fires nearby, he began enlarging the 175-foot clearance zone around his home Monday.

“It’s great living up here,” said Peterson, a retired aircraft mechanic. “But you have to protect yourself. You have to be prepared.”

“People around here are well aware of the importance of brush clearance. They’re being more than cooperative,” Rice said. “We took a tour of the Carlisle Canyon fire area this morning and you could see the 100-foot clearance around houses that stopped the fire.

“We’re going to go back and take pictures to show just how important they are. People who were gone when the fire came up to their homes were more than grateful when they saw the good that their clearance did.”

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Joe Montoya said mountain residents are so aware of the fire peril in his jurisdiction that he doubts his fire station high above Westlake Village will issue a single brush-clearance citation this year.

Elizabeth Douphner, clerk of the Topanga-Las Virgenes Resource Conservation District, said the fires have triggered a flurry of calls to her agency from homeowners seeking brush-clearance advice. She said district technicians are available to advise property owners about the best methods of brush clearance for their slopes and the best types of fire-resistant vegetation to plant in the place of chaparral.