BRIDGE REPAIR DELAY WORRIES RESIDENTS.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

MALIBOU LAKE - When an 80-year-old timber bridge over Malibou Lake was closed for repairs last spring, residents were told it would open by the onset of this year's fire season.

But some residents are concerned that a recent decision to replace the bridge late next year is endangering hundreds of families and animals who would have just one route of escape if fire breaks out near their mountain digs.

``I am worried,'' said Matthew Moreau, 40, a falconer who lives with his wife, two daughters and a menagerie of horses, rabbits, dogs and birds on a hillside home surrounded by tinder-dry brush.

``I have one recourse to get my animals - and more importantly, my daughters - out of this neighborhood. One pathway. ... It's negligence on the part of the county.''

Los Angeles County public works officials originally condemned the Malibou Lake Bridge on April 23, planning to fix it by September.

But they soon determined it would be more cost-effective to spend $900,000 - most of it federal funds - to replace the bridge rather than spending about $400,000 in county money to just repair it.

The new bridge, built in concrete to look exactly like the old one, is expected to be completed in September 2005.

To assuage residents' concerns, county officials this week decided to scrape enough weighty asphalt off the old bridge to allow residents and fire and sheriff's vehicles access in an emergency.

``If there is a fire, this bridge will allow emergency responders to immediately open the bridge,'' said Susan Nissman, field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. ``The supervisor felt we need to do everything possible to give the community safe options in case of a fire.''

Malibou Lake, located in the Santa Monica Mountains south of Agoura Hills, is home to about 400 families in two communities linked by a county-owned road and bridge.

The Lake Vista Drive bridge spans the northeast side of Malibou Lake leading into the historic Malibou Lake Mountain Club, a private community founded in 1922.

But the 75-foot bridge has also long been a bone of contention between ``mountain'' club homeowners around the lake and the hundreds of ``lakeside'' homeowners in the mountains south of it.

The club has sought since 1956 to privatize the bridge and scenic Lake Vista Drive, and many members now say it's better off closed - barring dangerous speeders and noisy motorcycle traffic.

``I want to keep the bridge closed,'' said Ray King, 71, who has lived just east of the bridge for 28 years. ``I would imagine 99 percent of the people here agree with me. We don't need the bridge.

``If a fire comes ... we can always jump in the lake.''

But for the estimated 250 families now forced to exit onto Mulholland Highway west of the lake, that's not an option within their official wildland fire area.

There have been several brush fires, one last week, in the vicinity of their only exit, they said.

``It's very scary to me,'' said Mary Altmann, who has lived in the lakeside mountain community 17 years. ``(The county) promised to replace the bridge six years ago. I'm just livid.''

Los Angeles County fire officials acknowledge the wildfire danger, but say that the bridge closure is out of their hands.

``It'd be nice to have more access,'' said Region 5 Battalion Chief Mike Sandeman of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, of the bridge closure. ``(But) it isn't breaking any codes.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com