New Law to Help Make Owners of Brushy Land Pay Fire Costs

The City Council adopted an ordinance Tuesday that will make it easier to bill property owners for the cost of fires on land that has not been cleared of hazardous brush.

About 800 owners have not complied with brush clearance orders, increasing firefighters’ concerns about dry vegetation on hillsides, city officials said.

The council also directed city administrators to ask state officials about using National Guard troops to help clear brush from government-owned property.

City Councilman Hal Bernson said the ordinance should give property owners added reason to remove brush and trim trees within 200 feet of any structure and 10 feet of any road, as required by city rules.

Bills for brush fires can be steep because the blazes often are in remote areas requiring the assistance of helicopters and airplanes.

Deputy Fire Chief Jimmy Hill said the city spent more than $100,000 fighting last weekend’s Porter Ranch fire with 34 engine companies and air support from Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

In May, the state sued Southern California Edison Co. for the $1.8-million cost of fighting a 1996 wildfire near Fillmore that scorched 11,000 acres. The lawsuit alleges that an Edison power line sagged into a tree, igniting the blaze. The utility has denied any responsibility for the fire.

If signed by the mayor, Tuesday’s ordinance would take effect well before this year’s round of brush clearance notices begin going out in April, Hill said.

The new ordinance would supplement laws that establish liability for property owners who fail to maintain their land properly, according to Assistant City Atty. Claudia McGee-Henry.

To recover costs under the new law, the city would have to prove that a fire started on or was “associated with” uncleared property.

Once a fire occurs, arson investigators pinpoint the origin and burn pattern. The Fire Department would determine the extent to which out-of-compliance properties contributed. That determination would be used in assessing financial responsibility.

McGee-Henry said the Fire Department would have to develop criteria for assessing responsibility, especially in cases in which there were multiple properties out of compliance. The law places no limit on the amount a property owner can be billed.

“I hope it will make everybody more responsible, because they are not only going to be charged for clearing the brush, they will be held responsible for damages,” Bernson said.

Councilman Mike Hernandez said he was concerned that the ordinance allows the city to collect from private property owners but exempts government agencies, including the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

McGee-Henry said California law establishes that the conservancy and other state agencies are not subject to city ordinances.

Councilman Mike Feuer said last month that there were 1,300 properties owned by the city, state and conservancy that were out of compliance.

On Monday, Hill said the city has brought almost all of its properties into compliance.

At Feuer’s request, the council directed City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie to open talks with the Department of Defense and Gov. Gray Davis about establishing a program under which National Guard volunteers would help clear brush from public property.