Brush Clearance Plan Given Tentative OK

Under a new Glendale fire prevention program that received tentative approval Tuesday, firefighters will check 13,000 hillside lots and order the removal of any brush that could fuel a fast-moving blaze.

If property owners do not comply with the removal orders within 15 days, the city will send crews to do the work, then add the cost to the owner’s property tax bill, officials said.

The proposed ordinance would require the removal of all dead trees. In most cases, weeds and other vegetation within 100 feet of a building would be allowed to grow only three inches high. The height limit would not apply to ornamental shrubbery or plants that would not easily fuel the spread of fire.

The ordinance would also require an owner to cut tree limbs that hang over roofs and could endanger the structure if the limbs catch on fire.

“If we don’t do this, we’re going to be criticized,” said Mayor Larry Zarian, one of four council members who voted for the plan. “It is imperative that this program start.”

But Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg charged that the new rules are a “sledgehammer” tactic and were being enacted without sufficient public review.

“This is absolutely outrageous,” Bremberg said. “Nobody has any idea what’s going to be imposed on them. People have spent thousands and thousands of dollars putting in their landscaping. Do you want them to end up with half a tree?”

The so-called “vegetation management plan” was proposed by Fire Chief John Montenero and Fire Marshal Chris Gray in the wake of the June 27 College Hills fire that destroyed or damaged 64 Glendale houses and caused more than $15 million in damage. Firefighters said flammable roofs and dry vegetation near the houses helped spread the fire and contributed to the high property loss.

In 4-1 votes, the council allocated $165,000 to begin the brush inspections and authorized fees designed to make the program pay for itself. An ordinance adding the guidelines to the city’s building and safety code was introduced Tuesday and will be returned for final approval next week.

Montenero argued that without mandatory inspections, property owners will not voluntarily eliminate the tree limbs and other vegetation that could carry flames to their houses.

“Unless we eradicate a certain amount of this brush hazard, we will have another College Hills fire,” he said.

Councilman Carl Raggio, whose son lost a house in that blaze, said the crackdown will keep a fire from moving quickly from one house to another within a hillside neighborhood.

“My son had taken protective measures,” he said. “It didn’t work because others had not.”

The Glendale program, patterned after a similar one in the city of Los Angeles, is expected to be launched in January. In the past, Glendale has hired the Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture to check about 350 vacant lots annually for dangerous brush. But city officials complained that this process was too slow and too small in scope.

After the June 27 fire, Montenero proposed that the city order the replacement of flammable wood roofs and impose tougher controls on hillside vegetation. A majority of council members rejected the roof replacement plan, but urged the fire chief to prepare the brush clearance program.

Under the new plan, the Fire Department is expected initially to survey about 13,000 parcels in brush hazard areas. Gray said about 10,000 lots will likely not need clearance.

But he said firefighters expect to make more rigorous inspections and order the removal of hazards on about 3,200 parcels.

The Fire Department has estimated that the prevention program will cost about $218,000 annually, including the hiring of a forester and a clerical worker.

To pay for it, the city will charge property owners a $30 inspection fee whenever firefighters find brush hazards that must be removed. The city will charge an extra $275 administrative fee if it needs to call in an outside crew to do the clearance work.

The department estimates that it will need to call in outside crews to clear about 250 lots annually.

Fire officials said they will return to the council in the coming weeks to call for tougher hillside building rules and the use of fire-resistant landscaping.