NEWPORT BEACH : Canyon Fire Danger Sparks a Meeting

A meeting is scheduled tonight to discuss concerns of Corona del Mar homeowners over a recent request by the city Fire Department that they clear their property of dry vegetation to lessen danger from brush fires.

In a July 23 letter to about 200 homeowners in the Morning Canyon and Buck Gully areas, Fire Chief James Reed said drought conditions and nearly two decades of largely unrestricted vegetation growth pose a danger in canyons.

“(Your) house and those of your neighbors for several blocks are at risk of serious fire damage,” Reed’s letter said. “This risk also extends to civilians and firefighters who must battle these fires.”

But some homeowners have questioned the request, arguing that the natural look of canyons is the reason they bought their homes and that by clearing the land they would be encouraging erosion of the slopes and damaging their property values.

“Buck Gully is one of the few natural animal habitats,” Evelyn Berg said. “I think most people here on the canyon are very conscientious. The hillside has its natural growth, and it has to have it for (preventing) erosion.”

Berg said that in the 25 years she has lived in the area, the department has never been so insistent that the residents clear their property.

Besides, much of the canyon growth is green and therefore not a fire danger, she added.

But Reed said green growth is no safeguard: “Oftentimes, people have a misconception . . . that if something looks green then it is not going to burn. That’s not true.”

What’s more, he said, residents “think that because they have a local fire department . . . they’re safe from fire.”

But the June fires in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties proved that brush fires are often the most difficult to battle, he said.

Other homeowners said they have cleared their land but remain unclear about what requirements the Fire Department or city will impose.

“I think that there is a lot of misunderstanding all the way around,” said Councilman Phil Sansone, who represents the canyons district on the City Council.

Sansone said he has heard from constituents about the program, with more positive feedback then negative.

Reed and fire inspectors emphasized that they are not asking anybody to denude their property, but rather called for the removal of dry or dead vegetation, the trimming of tree branches lower than 5 feet off the ground and the pruning of bush and shrub foliage from the ground to about one-third of their height.

Fire inspectors will be available to answer questions at the meeting at 7:30 tonight in the Fire Department conference room, 475 32nd St.