Brush-Clearing Funds Sought by City Council

As the wildfire season approaches, a Los Angeles City Council panel Monday recommended a $1.8-million package to allow the city Fire Department to hire more inspectors and contractors to reduce hillside fire danger by clearing brush.

“We are definitely giving more staff resources and dollar resources to get out and get properties cleared,” said City Councilwoman Laura Chick, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee.

Fire Department officials told the committee that about 6,000 properties in fire-prone mountain areas have not complied with the city’s brush-clearance ordinance, and may need to be cleared by city-selected contractors.

The city has a policy of hiring contractors to clear such properties and billing the owners later, but the process has been complicated by an increase in requirements, a shortage of contractors and an excess of vegetation owing to last winter’s heavy rains.

Expectations that the risk of fires would be heightened this fall have brought urgency to the brush-clearance issue. But it is unclear whether the increased fire danger will materialize, and a Los Angeles County study concluded that serious fires more commonly occur in the second autumn after an El Nino winter.

Still, some council members have been sharply critical of the Fire Department for not acting more aggressively to address the problem of hillside property owners’ noncompliance with city fire-prevention codes. Fire officials say they have been strapped by limited resources and procedural requirements that have slowed the process.

Monday’s action was a first step toward resolving the controversy. The Public Safety Committee approved a Fire Department request to hire nine people, including six new inspectors, and to set aside $1.4 million to hire contractors--costs that are expected to be recouped later.

The committee also recommended approval of a “declaration of urgent necessity” issued by Mayor Richard Riordan earlier this month. The declaration calls on fire officials to temporarily waive requirements for competitive bids in selecting contractors to remove vegetation.

The City Council Budget and Finance Committee is expected to take up the recommendation for increased funding for Fire Department brush-clearance programs today, and the City Council is scheduled to take final action on the declaration today, as well.

The committee also moved to instruct the Fire Department to ensure that brush is cleared on publicly owned property, especially in areas given a high priority due to potential fire danger.

In a related action, City Councilman Mike Feuer said he brokered a deal with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to split with the city the $165,000 cost of brush clearance on conservancy lands.

The conservancy is not bound by the city regulations because it is a state agency, Feuer said, but has voluntarily offered to comply.