More fire evasion needed

Living in Laguna is risky, but residents don’t seem ready to take precautions, officials say.

Although most of the city is vulnerable to fire, properties that abut the wildland urban interface are especially at risk, according to a fire department report, but few property owners have taken advantage of a program that evaluates the risks and suggests precautions.

The Community Risk Assessment Program was developed by the fire department to offer an objective fire hazard rating for individual properties and mitigation measures, upon request.

“Last year we sent 1,900 letters to owners of properties abutting the wildland interface — we got 35 replies,” Fire Marshal Tom Christopher told the City Council.

The city hired Fire Prevention Officer Kelly Graham six months ago to step up awareness of the hazards.

She visits interface properties, rates them and provides options to the property owners to improve conditions.

“Shelly basically assesses the risks such as roof structure, construction materials and design, vegetation and access and gives the property a numerical rating and then she prioritizes mitigation and says if you do these things you will make it safer,” Fire Chief Mike Macey said.

Graham has sent out 100 letters offering her services, but has received only 18 responses.

“I have one of those [interface] properties, and I had Shelley come out,” City Treasurer Laura Parisi said. “She had some great tips and not expensive. It’s peace of mind knowing you have done everything you can.”

Graham has a variety of solutions to offer residents, some cheap, some not so cheap.

“I have ideas that cost less than $100 and an hour of your time and your gardeners,” Graham said. “But not every house has the same problems and some tips are more expensive. One house may need a new roof — another might just need to have the pine needles cleaned out of the gutters.”

Graham also assesses dead vegetation, with somewhat better response. She has notified about 25 property owners of the situations that need attention and 15 have complied, according to Christopher.

This program is separate from the annual weed abatement process, when the city notifies property owners about neglected parcels so they can clean up, or the city will and bill them.

“Education is my most important task,” Graham said. “I want to go out and help our residents become more informed so we have a community-wide effort to make Laguna Beach more fire safe.

“My goal is to talk to every single resident so they can know what to do to decrease their fire hazards.”

However, some things cannot be controlled. Santa Ana winds can be forecast, but not forestalled.

Capricious winds can whip a blaze into an inferno, as they did in 1993, when a small fire in Laguna Canyon raced willy-nilly through the Emerald Bay, back-tracked to the canyon and up the hills, feeding on brush and buildings.

Christopher said a fire sweeping from El Toro Road through Woods and Aliso canyons poses a bigger threat to Laguna than the 1993 fire. Pushed by a 60-mph wind, admittedly the worst-case scenario, a fire can travel 850 feet a minute, with embers showering as much as three miles away. Those embers are fire-starters.

Even with winds half that speed, the city is in jeopardy, Christopher said.

“All of Laguna should be more conscious of the danger of fire, not just those in the interface,” said Martha Lydick, whose Mystic Hills home was consumed in 1993. “If homes in the interface go, the whole town is at risk.”

Fires can also be slope-driven or fuel driven — both prevalent in Laguna.

“Our topography could have been designed better,” Christopher said.

Fires like hills. And they adore vegetation, particularly under drought conditions.

Christopher showed slides of lush areas in Laguna that firefighters see as an invitation to disaster.

Houses tucked into vegetation block firefighters access, always a concern, Christopher said.

“What we do in Laguna with the goats is to create a firebreak that protects homes,” Christopher said.

City Manager Ken Frank plans to recommend that the council include $200,000 in the 2008-09 budget to expand the fuel break. Whether to use hand crews or goats has not been decided, Frank said.

Other fire prevention measures were taken in November when the council adopted the updated California building and fire codes, including local amendments.

“Passing [them] was a good thing,” Christopher said.

The fire department would like to get a geographical information system program that would enable residents to go online and find out the hazards on their own properties or possibly their neighbors’.

“If the council can help, let us know,” Mayor Jane Egly said. “We can use this [platform] as a bully pulpit, if nothing else.”

For more information about assessments and safety tips, call (949) 497-0700.