Pasadena Program Asks Residents to Volunteer Pools to Help Fight Fires

As fire season sweeps into the region, turning hillsides into charcoal, Pasadena is becoming the first city in Southern California to mark the curbs of homeowners willing to allow their swimming pools to be a source of water for firefighters.

A curb outside a home nestled high on a brushy hillside overlooking the Rose Bowl on Wednesday became the first place to get the blue stencil depicting a swimmer.

“It’s a lot easier to look for a curbside marker than go searching for a pool,” said Pasadena Fire Capt. Ed Cowan, who along with Councilwoman Ann-Marie Villicana championed the project.

“This district I represent is the most rugged part of city with few fire hydrants, lots of brush and tiny, narrow roads,” said Villicana, who assisted in the stenciling on Putney Road. “This provides a sense of additional safety to residents who volunteer their pools.”

Villicana said residents will be asked to offer the use of their pool water in the event of fires and the curb marking will be stenciled by neighborhood groups in concert with the Fire Department.

Pasadena Fire Chief Pete Pederson said a half dozen firetrucks have been fitted with pumps designed to suck up pool water and the remainder of the trucks will soon have the necessary equipment.

“We have a lot of pools here and the curb marks could make all the difference in event of a fire,” said Pederson.

The markers will be promoted heavily in the Linda Vista Annandale area and on Eastside neighbors near the Angeles National Forest, he said. More than 120 homes were lost near the city’s east border in the unincorporated area of Kinneloa when a firestorm swept through two years ago.

Tineke Crossland, a Putney Road resident, was the first to take the plunge Tuesday with a curb marker and more than a half dozen of her neighbors agreed to participate before the program was even officially announced, officials said.

“This is a great idea. I didn’t hesitate to call when I heard about it,” said Crossland.