Topanga is unique in its fire threat. Having a plan saves homes and lives.
To mark the beginning of summer, approximately 50 people from the West and East Hillside, Summit, Mesa and other neighborhoods in T-CEP Zone 6 attended a meeting on June 17 at the Topanga Community House to learn more about wildfire prevention and how to organize local Fire Safe Councils (FSCs).
PHOTO BY ANNEMARIE DONKIN  Mike Wilson of the National Parks Service (NPS), Nat Cox of the CA State Parks, Kathryn Kirkpatrick of the NPS and J. Lopez of the Los Angeles County Fire Department conducted a fire safety presentation on June 17 at the Topanga Community House. |
In June, representatives from the L.A. County Fire Department and National Parks Service held three workshops throughout the Canyon to educate residents about the dangers of certain non-native trees, plants and materials that could explode and spread fire from house to house.
Residents were also informed about community wildfire protection plans to make them eligible for federal grants to cover the cost of removing fire-prone trees and hillside brush.
Topanga Canyon is designated as a Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), a populated area within the boundaries of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Its unique combination of vegetation and climate creates one of the most extreme fire dangers in the world.
Therefore, the goal of the meetings was to assist residents in preparing their homes for just such a circumstance by, in effect, pre-defending their property through fire-hazard reduction and creating defensible spaces, which, according to fire officials, involves more than simple brush clearance.
"Similar efforts in Malibu were successful enough to encourage the partnering agencies–CA Fire Alliance, CA State Parks, Mountains Restoration Trust, LA County Fire Department and the National Parks Service–to hold these meetings in hopes of spurring Topanga residents to action," said Susan Nissman, Senior Deputy, District Office of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "Firefighters and other agencies can only do just so much."
Nissman added that if people want to protect their homes from fire, they are now invited to partner with these agencies, sharing specifics of what needs to be done on a neighborhood scale–with anywhere from 50 to a few hundred homes.
"The turnout and response to the three workshops was very encouraging," she added. "We have heard that several neighborhoods are interested in organizing and are even talking to each other about some short-term best practices they may do this season, such as going in together and getting a wood chipper for a weekend."
Sidebar: Landscaping for Wildfire Protection
The danger of wildfires and brushfires in the hills and mountains surrounding urban areas will be unusually high this year. Maintain your property to reduce the risk of damage during a wildfire and be fully prepared to evacuate. Here are some tips to help protect you and your home by creating a fire-wise landscape.
• Clear flammable vegetation and other materials around your house and other structures a minimum of 30 feet and up to 200 feet depending on local topography. Houses surrounded by dense vegetation need clearance of 100 feet while those on slopes and hillsides need clearance of 200 feet.
• Establish and maintain a "greenbelt" of well-watered, low-growing, fire-resistant plants around your home and other structures.
• Incorporate rock, brick or concrete pathways and patios, and gravel walkways for additional protection.
• Clear and remove dead and dried plant material and debris, such as leaf litter, twigs, tall grass, fallen or dead branches and thatch build-up of groundcovers and succulents.
• Thin or remove crowded woody plants to create 10 to 20 feet of space between shrubs and 20 to 40 feet between trees.
• Stagger well-watered trees away from the house to act as a barrier to intercept and prevent wind-driven burning material from reaching the home.
• Prune branches that are near or overhang the roof. Remove lower tree branches 10 to 15 feet above the ground and maintain a vegetation-free zone beneath the tree's drip line.
• Many California native plants become highly flammable during drought conditions. Keep them well spaced to reduce their chances of carrying fire.
• Water-stressed plants burn readily. Deep water once a month during late summer and fall-even drought-tolerant plants-to reduce their potential to burn. Install a sprinkler system to make watering faster, easier and more effective.
• Select fire-resistant plants. Most conifers and many species of Eucalyptus and Acacia are quite flammable. Species with shedding bark and heavy leaf litter are particularly hazardous. Plants with relatively fire-resistant foliage include deciduous trees and shrubs, plants with large, fleshy leaves, and plants lacking volatile chemicals, oils, waxes, etc.
Sources
http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Environmental_Horticulture/Landscaping_for_Wildfire_Protection.htm)
For information on alternatives to invasive and flammable plants visit: http://www.plantright.org/plants/plantlist.php?region=south_coast
Chaparral is California's most extensive native plant community and its most potentially flammable landscape. Wind driven, chaparral-fueled fires often burn hot, produce tall flames from which come burning embers that can ignite homes distances away. Chaparral is also highly endangered from non-native invasive plants and can be maintained instead of removed to reduce fire risk.
Source: www.californiachaparral.com/chaparralfacts.html.
Fire Behavior
"We are only one of five Mediterranean climates in the world," said Nat Cox, an environmental scientist for the California State Parks. "We have exceptional biodiversity and need to preserve as much of the natural environment as possible."
Due to climate change, Cox said the fire cycle in Southern California is more frequent, with approximately 11-12 years between fires. As a result, deep-rooted native plants don't have time to propagate and the hills are full of seasonal grass that burns faster. According to National Parks Service statistics, 97 percent of fires are human-caused, primarily by arcing power lines and arson and, as the population has grown, so have the number of fires.
Nissman reminded everyone how quickly fires can move, saying that "the 1993 Old Topanga fire moved at approximately one mile an hour, destroyed 350 homes and burned 17,000 acres."
Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Fire Management Officer for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Mediterranean Coast Network, spoke about fuels, wildfire behavior and landscaping with fire-resistant plants. She also urged neighbors to work together to prevent house-to-house ignition.
"At parks, we care," she quipped.
Turning serious, Kirkpatrick said that "Topanga is unique in its fire threat, with offshore winds that drive fire through the Canyon and up the hills, where it moves 16 times faster."
She said the oils inside of a eucalyptus, palm and cypress trees can explode and send embers, sometimes as big as tennis balls, flying in all directions; up to two miles in some cases.
"People can't live in a bubble," she said. "Neighborhoods need to organize. Firefighters lungs are what is on the line out there."
Creating Defensible Space
"Clearance is not clear cutting," said J. Lopez, Deputy Forester of the LAFD Fire Plan Unit, Forestry Division Prevention Bureau. "We don't mean for you to get rid of every plant; simply clear the grasses to three inches and prune bushes."
In order to determine and mitigate fire dangers throughout the Canyon, Lopez said he and Kirkpatrick would consult with homeowners and neighborhood councils about defensible space.
"We advise having an irrigated zone of 30 feet from your house, 100 feet is mandatory but we recommend 200 feet if possible," Lopez said.
Sidebar: L.A. County Fire Department Tips for Creating a Defensible Zone
1. Work from the house out to clear a 30 foot irrigated area.
2. Remove small needles, twigs and leaves from around the house.
3. Keep grass three inches or shorter.
4. Clear or thin brush out to the mandatory 100 feet, 200 if possible.
5. Remove or thin non-native trees such as eucalyptus, palms, pines or cypress.
6. Remove small, flammable objects from near the house such as hanging plants, potted palms, fiber door mats and straw brooms.
Community Awareness
According to Julie Clark de Blasio, Fire Education Partner, Santa Monica Mountains CWPP Project, the overall goal of the meetings was to create community awareness.
"People move here from urban areas and bring their urban mindset with them, including landscaping plans," she said, emphasizing again the wisdom of landscping with fire-resistant plants.
With regard to ongoing fire safety, de Blasio said T-CEP is an absolutely critical driving force in the community and a homeowner's best friend.
"Fernwood has taken the T-CEP concept even further to address pet and equine evacuation," she said. "It is a process that is changing people's paradigms for readiness preparedness, it is happening, but it is a slow process. Ideally, everyone in Topanga is part of T-CEP."
CWPPs and Grants
Beyond T-CEP, meeting organizers urged Topanga homeowners to organize neighborhood FSCs to prepare a community wildfire protection plan (CWPP) for their area.
The Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 created a framework within which WUI communities can obtain federal grants to help homeowners reduce what fires feed on. As a result, joint agencies of the National Parks Service, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and the State Parks, as well as private organizations and businesses, are assisting neighborhood groups to identify and prioritize their fire-protection needs and write CWPPs to obtain these grants.
The majority of CWPP grants are issued through the California Fire Safe Council Grants clearinghouse; that administers the four Federal Agencies that distribute the grant money.
"As it has been set up, the process, asks neighborhoods to organize and establish leadership and work with the NPS, the California State Fire Safe Council and County Forestry agencies," Nissman said.
So, even before writing a grant, the group must meet together and identify areas of hazardous vegetation, then prioritize what steps to take to protect homes, identify evacuation routes and/or critical infrastructure.
A well-written CWPP then allows a neighborhood to apply for federal funds from several agencies including the NPS to pay for large-scale tree removal and brush clearance.
"If a group wants to initially meet and have someone from our office attend with the appropriate agencies to further discuss formation of a council and doing a Wildfire Protection Plan, we will be glad to do that," Nissman said.
Sidebar: How to Prepare a CWPP
While adaptable for communities of all sizes, each CWPP requires:
Collaboration – Plan is developed jointly by local, state and federal agencies with homeowners, Fire Safe Councils and interested parties.
Prioritized Fuel Reduction – Areas of hazardous vegetation are identified and fuel reduction treatments are prioritized to protect homes, evacuation routes and critical infrastructures.
Treatment of Structural Ignitability – Measures are outlined that homeowners can take to prevent their individual homes from catching fire.
The primary responsibility for implementation lies with the homeowners, guidance is provided by the National Park Service and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Completion of a CWPP allows NPS consideration to use federal funds for fuel reduction on private lands. Homeowners remain personally responsible for addressing ignitability issues. For more information, contact Cameron Balog, Santa Monica Mountains NRA Fire Education Office (805) 370-2364.
The Society of Professional Foresters has put together an eight-step guideline to help citizens living in a WUI area prepare a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. While it might look intimidating, it beats losing your life or home. For the latest information visit www.safnet.org
Step One – Convene Decision Makers: Form a core team made up of representatives from the appropriate local governments, local fire authority and state agency responsible for forest management.
Step Two – Involve Federal Agencies: Identify and engage local representatives of the USFS and BLM. Contact and involve other land management agencies as appropriate.
Step Three – Engage Interested Parties: Contact and encourage active involvement in plan development from a broad range of interested organizations and stakeholders.
Step Four – Establish a Community Base Map: Work with partners to establish a baseline map of the community that defines the community's WUI and displays inhabited areas at risk, forested areas that contain critical human infrastructure and forest areas at risk for large-scale disturbance.
Step Five – Develop a Community Risk Assessment: Work with partners to develop a community risk assessment that considers fuel hazards, risk of wildfire occurrences, homes, businesses and essential infrastructure at risk; other community values at risk and local preparedness capability. Rate the level of risk for each factor and incorporate into the base map as appropriate.
Step Six – Establish Community Priorities and Recommendations: Use the base map and community risk assessments to facilitate a collaborative community discussion that leads to the identification of local priorities for fuel treatment, reducing structural ignitability and other issues of interest whether priority projects are directly related to protection of communities and essential infrastructure or to reducing wildfire risks to other community values.
Step Seven – Develop an Action Plan and Assessment Strategy: Consider developing a detailed implementation strategy to accompany the CWPP, as well as a monitoring plan that will ensure its long-term success.
Step Eight – Finalize Community Protection Plan: Finalize the CWPP and communicate the results to community and key partners.
Sidebar: GRANTS PROGRAMS
The California Fire Safe Grants Clearinghouse administers grants for fire mitigation projects in California, primarily through the following programs:
Bureau of Land Management Community Assistance: Average grant 2009 – $100,000.
USDA Forest Service State Fire Assistance: Average grant 2009 – $100,000.
National Park Service Community Assistance/Wildland-Urban Interface: Average grant 2009 – $50,000.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildland/Urban Interface Grant Program: Average grant 2009 – $50,000.
The grants fund hazard mitigation, fuel reduction and Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) projects. A locally approved CWPP is included in the selection criteria. The funding cycle begins annually in October with grant applications due in February. Each application is concurrently considered for all four funding programs. For more information, go to http://www.grants.firesafecouncil.org. Other resources to contact are:
Susan Petrulas Nissman, Field Deputy, Zev Yaroslavsky, Supervisor, Third District, County of Los Angeles, 2660 Agoura Road, Suite 100, Calabasas, CA 91302, (818) 880-9416, snissman@bos.lacounty.gov
Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Fire Management Office, Santa Monica Mountains National Resource Area, Mediterranean Coast Network, 401 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (805) 370-2391, Kathryn_kirkpatrick@nps.gov
J. Lopez, Deputy Forester Fire Plan Unit, Forestry Division Prevention Bureau, County of Los Angels Fire Department, 12605 Osborne St., Pacoima, CA 91331, (818) 890-5783, jlopez@fire.lacounty.gov.
CWPP SUCCESS STORIES
The West Hillside Drive Neighborhood Association was spearheaded by long-time Topanga resident Ken Wheeland, who took a look at the giant eucalyptus trees in his neighborhood and decided they needed to go.
Hillside resident Lynne Haigh also worried about the approximately 100 mature eucalyptus trees in the area that were planted in the 1920s.
"These trees are monsters, they are 150 feet tall, they are huge, nobody could afford to remove them," she said. "It takes $6,000 or $8,000 to take down each tree, and some of us have eight or ten on our properties."
Mentored and sponsored by Kirkpatrick and the NPS, Wheeland and his neighbors took nine months to receive their first grant of $40,000 to allow them to remove 26 overgrown trees.
They recently received a second grant for $65,250 to continue the process in their area, to remove another 30 trees. (see "Hillside Homeowners Win $100,000 in Firesafe Grants," Messenger, Vol 32 No 10, May 21, 2009).
The other neighbors involved in the Hillside program were Gerry Haigh, Robin Soper, Richard Brody, Chuck and Nanette Quigley, Paul Rosenberg and Robin Rudnikoff.
Artist Joyce Wisdom, a co-founder of the group, said next year, they will expand to include neighbors on Summit, Will Geer Road and Oakwood Drive, as well as some houses on tiny streets.
"We are all close to each other, that is 50 homes; for the rest of the 40 neighbors, they need to organize and put together a CWPP," Wisdom said. "Then we can either apply together or separately for a third grant."
Under the mentorship of Wisdom, Penny Chavez, along with Rick Davis, Robin Becker and Jim Chryssanthis formed the Skyline Homeowners. While the Skyline grant was rejected in 2009, Chavez indicated they would try again in October to obtain some of the grant monies earmarked for California.
"We see this effort as an evolving one, the more "success" stories there are (as with West Hillside, or Horizon Hills in Malibu), the more motivation there is for other neighborhoods and communities to organize themselves," Nissman said.
For the future, she hopes to see more long-term commitment as residents continue to organize and prepare and plan for disaster (as community volunteers initially dedicated themselves to the formation of T-CEP after the 1993 fires).
"The bottom line is for everyone to fill out their Topanga Disaster Survival Guide," she urged. "Have a plan."
