Task Force Seeks to Prevent Mudslides That Follow Fires

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to form a task force that will seek ways to prevent the mudslides that often follow the fire season in mountain and canyon areas.

The Post-Fire Watershed Recovery Task Force--which will consist of members from federal, state and local agencies--was charged with helping control heavy erosion on the charred hillsides of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The vote came five weeks after the wind-whipped Calabasas-Malibu wildfire burned more than 13,000 acres in canyon areas stretching from the San Fernando Valley to the ocean. Afterward, a rainstorm dropped as much as 6.5 inches on the area, causing erosion on the denuded hillsides.

The storm also loosened boulders that future rains could send tumbling onto Malibu Canyon Road, one of the few north-south links in the area.

A similar pattern of fires and mudslides occurred in 1993, after a deadly wildfire swept across Santa Monica Mountains canyon lands only to be followed by heavy rains that caused destructive slides.

“It’s almost axiomatic,” said Joel Bellman, a spokesman for Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. “Fire season is often followed by rainy season. . . . In 1993, people had barely recovered from fires when the mudslides started. It was like the trials of Job.”

Yaroslavsky represents many of the rugged fire-prone areas of the county, including most of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Among those participating on the task force will be the National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the California Department of Forestry, the county Public Works Department and the cities of Calabasas and Malibu.

The task force will report back to the board on recommendations within 90 days on long-term mitigation measures.