Slides Replace Fire as Threat in Laguna

As if the fire weren’t bad enough, weary Laguna Beach residents are now girding for another potential environmental disaster--what fire officials say is a “strong” chance of flooding and mudslides in the canyon areas where lush foliage has given way to ashes.

“We’re all terrified,” said Randy Bader, 41, whose Canyon Acres home weathered the inferno but lost its deck and front fence. “I’ve got a 1,000-foot mound of mud behind my house. One good rain and it’s all over.”

Officials had hoped to begin reseeding parts of the burned canyon region as early as Monday, but those plans were scuttled amid debate about what type of strategy would work best to avoid flooding and whether portions of the area were too damaged to be salvaged.

Instead, officials from a myriad of local, county and state government agencies met Monday in Laguna Beach to discuss reseeding and other methods for minimizing soil erosion in low-lying areas in the most imminent danger. California Department of Forestry spokesman Doug Forrest said officials hope to have a working plan ready by Friday.

But even as officials were debating the best method of attack during the emergency meeting, a dispute was brewing between government agencies and conservationists over what kind of seed to use in the environmentally sensitive area.

At issue is whether grass should be planted right away to help prevent soil slippage or whether the destroyed vegetation should be replaced with sage scrub similar to the kind that was there before. “The fight has already started over how the area will be reseeded,” said Orange County Fire Chief Larry Holms. He said efforts to replant could be seriously delayed as a result of the dispute.

Officials also said that a preliminary survey of the area suggests that some hillside terrain may have been too badly burned in the fire to be reseeded.

Echoing environmentalists’ concerns, Laguna Beach Mayor Lida Lenney said the city will do whatever is necessary to prevent future landslides but will insist on preserving the “special coastal scrub habitat.”

According to Department of Forestry officials, several options are being discussed, ranging from planting grass to constructing new drainage systems.

“One of the problems is that in a high-intensity fire, the soil develops water repellency which makes it very difficult to establish any kind of vegetation,” Forrest said. “But whatever we get in there it’s going to have to be a fast grower. We can’t just throw in the seed and wait six months.”

With the rainy season just two weeks away, he says, officials can ill afford to dawdle. If the hillsides are still bald by the time the rains begin, Holms said, the Laguna area could see a “continuation of the present disaster.”

But it is still unclear, officials said, just how large a region might be reseeded or what areas might now be targeted among more than 16,000 acres scorched in last week’s fire.

Given the city’s recent history, Laguna Beach residents have good reason to fear mudslides. In January, the collapse of a hillside in an affluent Laguna Beach neighborhood sent residents fleeing for safety. Three homes were destroyed, including one that slid off its foundation, crashed 50 feet down a steep ravine and caught fire in a tangle of utility lines.

“Several mudslides like the one last winter have occurred because people just basically filled over drainage courses” by building on top of them, said Pete Ducca, a civil engineer in Corona del Mar. “When the water popped up, the house just broke apart.”

Ducca said landslides also occur in newer types of construction when builders bulldoze foliage from the hillsides, leaving nothing to stop the soil from washing down the hill.

Fearing for their safety, Bader and his neighbors in Laguna Canyon are calling for swift action.

In the meantime, Bader says, he has packed up his most cherished possessions and left them by the front door.

“I’ve told everyone else to do the same and I’ve gotten a spare key to my neighbor’s house up the hill,” he said. “The day it starts raining, my family’s out of here.”

Times staff writers Kevin Johnson and Anna Cekola contributed to this report.

When the Rain Comes

Laguna Beach’s hillsides, stripped of foliage and homes by last week’s fire, could be at risk of future disaster in the form of mudslides. Local officials will decide whether to reseed the denuded hillsides to help prevent flooding and mudslides as the rainy season approaches.

Soil Composition

Laguna Beach’s coastal hillsides are typically susceptible to mudslides because of their porous geological makeup. What happens to each layer when saturated:

1) Topsoil: Sticky, claylike. Slides down, taking trees, fences, homes and pools with it.

2) Porous shale: Fine-grained clay that can hold large quantities of water. Breaks apart and slips.

3) Bedrock: Solid rock. Also can break, destabilizing shale layer.

Areas With Mudslide Potential

Hillside homes untouched by last week’s fire are most likely to be affected by flooding and mudslides. Here are some of the reasons why:

Gravity: The steeper the slope, the more susceptible it is to sliding.

Denuded hillside: Without trees and shrubs to absorb rain, water saturates hillside quickly and weakens bedrock.

Excess weight: Water-saturated soil becomes heavy, can lift and become unstable or slide away.

Development: Mudslides can occur where roads have been carved into hillsides, altering the natural slope.

Sources: Academic American Encyclopedia, Los Angeles Times reports

Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE / Los Angeles Times