A fire’s aftermath

Having fully contained a four-day brush fire in the Verdugo

Mountains, Burbank Fire officials remained cautious Tuesday that high

winds may reignite the flames.

After more than 1,000 firefighters from multiple agencies were

called in to fight the 1,100-acre fire, less than 50 remained on the

scene Tuesday.

Those crews were working 100 feet inside the line established

around the burned area and will be there for several more days,

Burbank Fire Capt. Ron Bell said.

High winds were expected to move into the area on Tuesday and fire

departments in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena are prepared in the

event the winds start the fire up again, Bell said.

“All three cities have contingency plans to get resources back

quickly,” Bell said. “With a few calls we can get 100 engines out

here.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The fire broke out just before 4:30 p.m., Thursday in the luau

grounds of the Castaway Restaurant near the De Bell Golf Course.

Up to 1,400 firefighters, some from as far away as Riverside and

Kern counties and the city of Santa Barbara, fought the blaze that

spread through Stough and Wildwood canyons, threatened communication

towers on the mountain ridge and caused an evacuation of up to 70

homes along Country Club Drive in Sunset Canyon. The evacuation order

was rescinded Sunday morning.

Monday morning Rep. Adam Schiff and Burbank Mayor Jef Vander

Borght visited with some of the firefighters Monday morning at the

command post set up at John Muir Middle School to thank them for

their efforts.

“They’re doing a tremendous job and I have nothing but the

greatest respect for them,” Schiff said. “Clearly they saved the

community from having the fires come down the hill and threaten

homes.”

Later in the day, the pair surveyed the fire damage from a

helicopter.

The ride gave Vander Borght his first chance to see the damage

caused by the fire that broke out Thursday afternoon.

“For me it gives a chance to get a sense of what happened, how

close it came to the houses and how far it spread,” Vander Borght

said.

Schiff is seeking a declaration from state Office of Emergency

Services deeming the mountainous region a disaster area.

“We’re working right now to see whether we can get federal

resources to defray these costs,” Schiff said.

Assistant City Manager Mike Flad gave an early ballpark estimate

of between $3 1/2 million to $4 million as the cost to put down the

fire.

That amount would include overtime for Burbank firefighters, the

use of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters for water drops and the

use of firefighters from other agencies, Flad said.

A final cost estimate was still being worked out and the city

intends to apply for funds from the Federal Emergency Management

Agency, Flad said.

Flad accompanied Vander Borght and Schiff on a flyover of the area

damaged by the fire.

Seeing the damage from the air gave himself and Vander Borght a

chance to gauge how to approach the aftermath of the fire, namely the

expected erosion from winter rains.

Seeing the damage from the air gave a different perspective of how

steep the canyons are and how the fire moved through them, Flad said.

“It’s no wonder it was so difficult to fight and that it went up

[the mountain side] so quickly,” Flad said.

Hiking trails in Stough and Wildwood canyons will be closed until

further notice to keep hikers out of the way of emergency workers

still on the scene, Flad said. The De Bell Golf Course re-opened on

Monday and the Stough Canyon Nature Center is expected to re-open on

Wednesday, Flad said.