Fight on Fruit Flies Touches Burbank, Too : Glendale Plant Quarantine Sought

An agricultural quarantine of Glendale and areas in Burbank and northeast Los Angeles is expected to be declared within a few days because of an infestation of Oriental fruit flies, Los Angeles County agriculture officials said. Meanwhile, emergency insecticide spraying has begun in central Glendale.

The proposed quarantine would cover 81 square miles and would restrict transportation of fruit outside the affected area. Officials said it should cause few problems, however, because there is little agriculture production in the area.

Nurseries also would be required to remove all fruit from plants. Soil at nurseries would be treated to kill any fruit flies, and fruit and vegetables would be fumigated, placed in plastic bags and sent to a dump, said Bob Atkins, supervisor of pest detection with the Los Angeles County agricultural commissioner’s office.

Notices to Be Sent

He said quarantine notices would be sent to all residents advising them to keep “home-grown fruit at home. “If fruit is given to friends in Canoga Park and the fruit is infested, it could infest another area,” Atkins said.

The proposed quarantine area, which includes all Glendale, is bordered on the west by Buena Vista Street in Burbank and on the east by the Foothill and Pasadena freeways. The southern edge runs along the Hollywood Freeway, curving in toward Elysian Park and then back out to the Pasadena Freeway. The northern border runs through the Verdugo Mountains through parts of Montrose and La Canada Flintridge.

From Sept. 18 to Sept. 23, three Oriental fruit flies were found in traps on East Oak Avenue, Harvard Street and Wilson Avenue in Glendale. One of them was a “mated female,” said Atkins, so there is reason to suspect that there may be eggs.

As a result, spraying began on Sept. 20, followed by a second spraying on Oct. 4. The area being sprayed covers 11 square miles around the infested traps, said John C. Manning, chief deputy of the agricultural commissioner’s office.

Inspection Begun Last Week

Last week, county agriculture officials started a door-to-door inspection of the area, cutting fruit from trees and slicing it open. So far no infested fruit has been found.

A larger infestation of Oriental fruit flies was recently found in Long Beach, and a quarantine was imposed there Sept. 30.

Atkins estimated the cost of minimum eradication efforts in Glendale will total $50,000.

As required, the proposed quarantine was submitted by the Los Angeles County Agricultural Department to the state Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento. It was given preliminary approval there and was submitted on Oct. 3 to the state Office of Administrative Law, where quick approval is expected.