L.A. sees fire hazard by freeways

Los Angeles’ most dangerous fire hazards this summer could be stirred up not by homeowners living on scrubby hillsides but by another culprit: Caltrans.

City fire inspectors say the state agency has failed to clear jungles of brush along at least six freeways passing through mountainous areas of Los Angeles despite repeated pleas to address the growing hazard.

The overgrown slopes, firefighters say, could put thousands of homes at risk along portions of the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass, the 118 in Northridge, the 110 near Mount Washington, the 210 in Sylmar and Sunland, and the 134 and 2 in Eagle Rock.

Fire officials say they have complained for more than four years, telling the California Department of Transportation that it is in violation of a city law that requires brush clearance 200 feet from structures and a state law requiring a 100-foot barrier. Yet local officials say they have no authority to force the state agency to take action, and they’re getting worried.

“With the weather so dry, we’re just shaking our heads at why they won’t do anything to protect homeowners,” said city Fire Inspector Paul Terris. “We just don’t understand. You would think they would realize that their liability is on the line here.”

Other public agencies, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, also have let their overgrown hillside properties become fire hazards, as demonstrated by a recent blaze on land owned by the DWP. But inspectors say they’ve had the most trouble with Caltrans.

Caltrans officials said the agency’s practice is to clear a 4- to 8-foot strip on the sides of freeways, in accordance with findings from the state fire marshal that most fires are started within four feet of the roadways.

Doug Failing, the Caltrans administrator in charge of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, said that he appreciates the Fire Department’s concerns but that Caltrans also must weigh conflicting priorities when clearing brush.

Failing said the agency must abide by state and federal water quality regulations that limit the amount of pollutants that can run off hillsides into storm drains. Denuded hillsides increase erosion and thus the amount of sediments and other materials cascading into waterways.

“It’s always an issue for us to balance these competing interests,” Failing said. “It’s not that we object to what the city Fire Department is trying to accomplish. I’ve got to deal with everyone, not just one agency.”

Caltrans is by no means alone.

Besides the DWP, fire inspectors say several other public agencies own brush-covered land. They include the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Southern California Edison. Firefighters say those agencies have made efforts, albeit sluggish in some cases, to clear brush from their land. Caltrans, they say, has done little to correct the problem.

Fire inspectors point to a stretch of the 134 Freeway in Eagle Rock, not far from the site of a 1988 fire on land maintained by Caltrans that they say damaged a few homes with wood-shake roofs.

Caltrans has cleared a segment of the hillside but has yet to finish most of the work, firefighters say.

Sumac bushes, eucalyptus trees and other vegetation at the site have spread into a virtual forest stretching about 300 feet from the freeway to canyon-hugging homes. Among garbage in the brush on a recent day were cigarette butts and a lighter.

“We’re due for another major fire,” said Terris, as he surveyed the terrain. “The Santa Ana winds are going to come from the East and blow [a fire] down the canyons. On a windy day, you’re not going to stop it.”

About 15 miles away, in the Sepulveda Pass, homeowner Charlotte Cornfeld shares the same fears.

She lives at the top of a ridge overlooking the 405 Freeway near Mulholland Drive. Thick brush runs several hundred yards from the freeway below up to the edge of her neighborhood. The University of Judaism, Skirball Cultural Center and two private schools are nestled in the hills nearby.

Cornfeld, who has lived on this scenic ridge for 35 years, said her insurance premiums have skyrocketed in part because her home sits less than 200 feet from the brush.

“It’s not good citizenship for them not to do their share,” Cornfeld said of Caltrans.

The Fire Department has asked the office of the state fire marshal to intervene but with limited success.

The fire official in charge of Southern California said he believes that Caltrans is trying to correct the problem despite its limited resources. Other public agencies around the state find themselves in the same predicament, the official said.

“I’m going to keep on nudging Caltrans,” said Ernie Paez, chief of the fire marshal’s fire and life safety division in Southern California. “I see them moving, [although] it’s not as fast as L.A. wants them to move. They’re making an effort, and that’s what we like to see.”

But that effort is not robust enough for local elected leaders, including the mayor, who want to see brush cleared from more hillsides.

“I believe the city has every right and responsibility to protect the safety of residents,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “If necessary, I will insert myself. I’ve got to believe there is a resolution to this.”

Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), whose district includes the Sepulveda Pass, said he plans to convene a meeting soon with the Fire Department and Caltrans.

And City Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said he would introduce a motion asking the Fire Department and the city attorney’s office to report on legal options.

Legal action seems to have worked elsewhere. The city of Oakland sued Caltrans in 2005 to force the agency to clean up overgrown vegetation and trash next to its freeway ramps, overpasses and vacant lots. A subsequent agreement calling for Caltrans to clean its property has improved conditions, an official in the Oakland city attorney’s office said.

Local elected leaders in Los Angeles say they prefer to avoid litigation but want to see results.

“If houses burn because state government failed in this most basic responsibility, it will be astonishing,” Weiss said, “especially because it is so preventable.”

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duke.helfand@latimes.com