Dump trucks to expand basins

The parade of dump trucks that crowded Crescenta-Cañada streets throughout the winter will return in the coming weeks, officials said.

Crews contracted by the Los Angeles County Public Works Department will soon begin expanding six of the area’s 28 debris basins, including Pickens, Snover, Big Briar, Mullally, Pinelawn and Starfall, officials said Thursday. Some concrete barriers, installed last year to divert debris flows, have already been removed to allow access.

“We anticipate the work will begin this month,” county spokesman Kerjon Lee said.

Officials hope that increasing the capacity of the basins will provide more protection from debris flows for residents living in the Station fire burn areas.

Starting in November, debris basins in La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta and the Glendale annex were tested repeatedly by winter storms that threatened to loosen hillsides denuded by the Station fire.

The rain triggered more than half a dozen evacuations.

And Mullally Debris Basin, at the top of Ocean View Boulevard in La Cañada, crested during a heavy downpour on Feb. 6, sending mud and rocks flowing through the streets, damaging 33 homes.

Public works crews labored throughout the winter to excavate the basins after each storm.

Several arterial streets, including Briggs and Pennsylvania avenues and Foothill and Ocean View boulevards, were congested daily with trucks and other heavy equipment.