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News of the Arroyo
Title: | Resident's complaints about overgrown brush on PDWP land finally get heard |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2010-07-20 |
Author: | Nathan McIntire, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star-News |
Content: | La Canada Flintridge resident Neal Peterson was glad when a contractor hired by Pasadena showed up Monday to begin clearing overgrown brush in the Hahamongna Watershed next to his home. It's been a nerve-racking wait, Peterson said. "It's about time," he said. "I'm glad they're doing it, but they're way late." The Pasadena Department of Water and Power, which owns the land, was supposed to remove the brush by a May 1 deadline required by county fire officials, but the utility budgeted money for the work just last week, PDWP Assistant General Manager Shan Kwan said. In the meantime, Peterson, who said he called the city several times to complain about the overgrown brush, had been nervously watching the hills - and hoping no fire erupted next to his house. His concerns were heightened, he said, when county fire inspectors looked at the site recently and told him it posed "the worst fire hazard they've ever seen in this area," Peterson said. He said he was particularly alarmed because he had to be evacuated during last August's Station Fire that burned about 250 square miles in the Angeles National Forest. "We just had a huge fire problem and yet the city isn't doing what it's responsible for doing to prevent forest fires," Peterson said. Kwan said the delay was caused by a budget shortfall. "We didn't have any money left in our budget to do any extra maintenance," Kwan said. "We wanted to clear it out. We just didn't have any money to hire a contractor to do that." The PDWP budgeted about $25,000 for the clearance work, said Kwan, who didn't know how long the work will take to complete. But Peterson said Pasadena Water and Power has cleared the land next to his home every year since he moved into his house in the 400 block of Gleneagles Place in 1974, he said. It's not like they didn't know about it, he said. "A utility that doesn't have enough money to cover their operating expenses - that's why I have a problem with it," he said. "It's more of an excuse of convenience." Hillside residents and businesses are required by law to clear brush up to the boundary line of their properties by May 1, Los Angeles County Fire Department Cpt. Adrian Murrieta said. "We try to break up the continuity of the fuel, so if there is a fire that does go through, it does give the firefighters a good defensible space to protect structures," Murrieta said. If brush clearance work isn't completed by the deadline, the Fire Department issues a notice ordering the violator to clear the brush within 30 days, Murrieta said. If the warning is again ignored, the department's weed abatement team is sent to clear the land - at the owner's expense, he said. nathan.mcintire@sgvn.com 626-578-6300, ext. 4475 Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_15552194#ixzz0uFGfOpOc |