Antelope Valley Rush to Build Raises Fire Risk, Officials Say

Los Angeles County officials investigating three major fires at Antelope Valley construction sites over the past month said Thursday that hurried, sometimes unsafe, work practices caused by the area’s housing boom have increased the risk of such fires.

Investigations of the fires, the most recent of which destroyed 20 unfinished houses in Palmdale, injured four people and caused $1.5 million in damage Wednesday, are not yet complete. Officials acknowledged that the hot, dry, windy climate of the Antelope Valley increases the fire danger at construction sites.

But they said investigations in all three cases are focusing on accidental causes involving possible worker negligence. Assistant Chief Jim Daleo of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who is also the county fire marshal, said he plans to step up code enforcement and fire prevention efforts with Antelope Valley builders.

“The industry has to share in the responsibility,” said Daleo, who acknowledged that his inspectors are struggling to keep up with a heavy workload posed by proliferating development. “They are creating the hazard. We will work with them.”

If the completed investigations determine that there was negligence, the builders may be cited, he said.

Wednesday’s fire at Tiffany Properties’ West Palm development in Palmdale began in a box of materials stored in the garage of a house under construction. Sheriff’s arson investigator Dan Watters said he is looking into the possibility that careless smoking by a worker was the cause, and fire officials are looking into reports that a plumber’s soldering torch was involved.

A plumber’s tool used for soldering apparently caused the Aug. 22 fire in Quartz Hill that destroyed three houses under construction by T & V Enterprises and caused about $250,000 in damage, Daleo said.

The first fire, on Aug. 15, destroyed 20 unfinished houses at Kaufman & Broad’s California Dawn housing development in Palmdale and caused $1.1 million in damage. Watters said he is attempting to piece together conflicting stories by work crews near the scene.

Although that fire was initially termed suspicious, Watters said nothing so far indicates arson.

Commenting on the three fires, Fire Department spokesman Don Kanallakan said: “This is what happens when people become careless. Homes that usually take six months, they’re completing in 90 days. You get tired workers, overload, stress and carelessness. We’re real concerned.”

More than 21,000 building permits have been issued by the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale during the last eight years, with the rate of permits issued doubling in the first half of 1989. The construction industry employs more than 22,000 workers in the Antelope Valley. There are hundreds of buyers on waiting lists for houses that have not yet been built.

Quality and Safety

Builders said Thursday that quality and safety have not suffered as a result of the boom. They said the recent spate of fires was caused by the amount and fast pace of construction and by the climate.

“These are things that are going to happen,” said Jim Obradovich, co-owner of Manhattan Beach based-Tiffany Properties. “I don’t think anybody gets rid of safety for speed. If they do, it’s not very intelligent. We certainly don’t push our subcontractors faster. In the long run it costs you more.”

But several construction workers agreed Thursday with fire officials and Watters, who said the headlong pace of construction creates unsafe conditions and shoddy workmanship at some developments.

One employee at West Palm, who asked not to be identified, said there is pressure on workers to build homes more rapidly in the Antelope Valley than elsewhere. As a result, he said: “Quality goes out the window. Safety goes out the window.”

Safety Regulations

Several workers and fire officials said some work crews ignore fire safety regulations, such as a Fire Code section requiring them to monitor areas where there has been soldering work, because of the hazard posed by hot pipes.

“No one does it,” the worker at West Palm said. “They solder and they walk away. It’s like an airplane coming into the airport. Most of the times there’s no problem, but then comes that one time when the conditions are there and you have a crash.”

Wade Mogle, a passer-by at the Palmdale site who said he has worked as a plumber in the area for the past several years, said he was not surprised by the recent rash of fires.

Mogle said, “This is what you get with sloppy, fast work--disasters.”

Rick Norris of the Antelope Valley Building Industry Assn. disagreed.

“As with all business, there’s always a deadline to build the product,” he said. “But if they don’t have good quality, they don’t build many. If they’re under the gun, they hire more workers.”

Of the employees who criticized work practices, Norris said, “It’s surprising that they admit they’re doing inferior work. I guarantee you if the builder found out they’re doing inferior work, they’d be terminated.”