AFTERMATH OF THE FIRES : Boys’ Home Escapes La Verne Fire, but Officials Fear Rain, Mudslides

When firefighters put out the blaze that swept through the hills above La Verne last week, there was a sigh of relief from officials of the LeRoy Boys’ Home.

At one point, it seemed as if the entire 25-acre site was lit with orange embers. When the smoke cleared, only a house where the former director lived and a garage had burned to the ground. There were no serious injuries.

But as workers start the laborious cleanup, home officials and neighbors say they are worried about the equally dangerous threat of a heavy rainfall.

The LeRoy Boys’ Home center and several houses in the La Verne area are located below a series of hills that loom up to 150 feet above the eastern San Gabriel Valley.

In the winter, shrubs, grass and trees stop the rain from carrying away the soil and pouring it down slopes in muddy torrents.

Slopes Bare

But with most of the vegetation burned, there is little left to hold the slopes together.

“The disaster for others is over; ours may just be starting,” said Darrell Paulk, the center’s chief executive officer.

Mudslides have always threatened those who live at the base of the hills.

Paulk said the Boys’ Home has had occasional problems since it was founded in 1947 as a home for emotionally disturbed children. In 1970, an unusually heavy rainstorm sent several feet of mud into the gymnasium, parts of the administration building and a parking lot.

Paulk said his main concern is over the two houses closest to the hills, which are used as staff residences. The boys’ dormitories are farther away and appear to be safe.

There are about four dozen nearby homes that also could be in jeopardy in a major storm, according to county estimates.

Studying Danger

The county has sent engineers and foresters to assess the danger from floods and mudslides in La Verne, Glendale, Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley and other foothill areas that were affected by the fires.

John Haggenmiller, senior deputy forester for the county, said the county is planning to plant the hills with rye grass and that aerial reseeding around La Verne could begin in the next two weeks.

But Haggenmiller said it will take time for the grass to root, and it may be years before the slopes are sufficiently covered. “It is somewhat iffy at best,” he said. “They’ll have a little help by the spring if the weather is right.”

Jean Granucci, spokesman for the county Department of Public Works, said the county will also provide homeowners with free sandbags and advice on how to protect their homes.

The Boys’ Home, however, is planning to hire its own engineer to see whether new retaining walls or other measures would offer protection from a mudslide.

But Paulk said that even if a solution is found, he is far from resting easy, since a heavy storm could hit at any moment.

“We just don’t know if there is enough time left,” he said.