DEADLINE FOR BRUSH CLEARANCE SHORTENED.

Byline: Erik N. Nelson Staff Writer

Trying to light a fire under hillside residents, officials moved up the usual May 1 deadline to clear flammable brush by two weeks but failed to inform the public until this week, leaving many homeowners smoldering.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials conceded Friday they stumbled in their effort to get the word out early to homeowners that they had moved the brush-clearing deadline to Monday because of low rainfall and high potential fire danger.

``I've been given five days' notice for clearance,'' said Roxanne Greene of Sunland, who said she received a 12-page, full-color brochure Wednesday that told her inspections will begin Monday. ``I'm almost 60 years old, and I can't do this myself.''

Owners of 127,000 properties within the ``Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone'' must trim or clear brush, weeds, grass and tree foliage within 200 feet of buildings or 10 feet of streets or combustible structures such as wooden fences.

The deadline, which is the date the Los Angeles Fire Department has set to begin property inspections, was moved up because of the high fire risk from dry brush, said Battalion Chief Mark Stormes, commander of the department's Industrial Commercial Section, which oversees brush clearance enforcement.

On a scale of dryness that ranges from about 140 for healthy living plants to 60 for dead, tinder-dry brush, readings have dropped to near 100, Stormes said.

``What we're hoping to do is to get the word out to property owners that we have to be ahead of the curve, because the live-fuel moisture is already at summer levels,'' Stormes said.

But the Fire Department - stung in recent years by a series of public-relations gaffes involving its brush-abatement notices - tried to avoid problems this year by producing the 12-page brochure at a cost of $60,000, officials said.

The department, however, says it found a challenge in getting the word out in time while attempting to produce a brochure with as much information as possible.

``They were supposed to get in the property owners' mailboxes much sooner than they did,'' said Battalion Chief Daniel McCarty, who was promoted out of the brush clearance program but continues to help with administrative duties. ``We wanted them to get out a month before the inspections'' but production of the brochure took longer than expected, he said.

That didn't stop professionals from gearing up for large-scale brush clearing.

``About this time of the year, people start panicking because they're getting notices,'' said Jim Habeger, owner of A Cut Above Tree Service in Van Nuys and Santa Clarita, who is doing brush clearing on about 30 of the properties he maintains. ``If you have never dealt with this type of thing before, it's a nightmare for a single resident.''

Fire officials say residents who don't comply with the rules will receive a visit from inspectors and then will have at least 15 more days to comply before facing the possibility of a fine.

What keeps some homeowners up at night is the knowledge that they could be charged a $218 Noncompliance Reinspection fee if they don't clear their brush properly by the third visit by a city inspector, after which they could get a bill for cleanup plus a $314 administrative fee.

``People that complain fail to recognize that there's a law on the books that requires them to maintain their property in compliance with the code 365 days a year,'' McCarty said. ``This is really kind of a courtesy'' that residents ``have come to expect.''

Los Angeles County fire officials also are gearing up to check hillside homes for proper clearance, which must be completed by May 1 in the Antelope Valley and June 1 in the Santa Clarita Valley.

In the coastal Santa Monica Mountains area, the dry season prompted county authorities to move up the deadline from June 1 to May 15, said Herbert Spitzer of the county's Fire Prevention Bureau.

The Glendale Fire Department sent out brush clearance notices to 4,500 hillside property owners April 1. The department is advising homeowners to clear their lots by May 1, at which time it will start inspections. Inspections are expected to last through July 1.

Fire Marshal Steve Howard said the dry weather spell makes it especially crucial for residents to clear their property.

``The forecast is because this season is so dry, we are going to have fuel that is going to burn very rapidly,'' he said.

Burbank fire officials will be mailing out notices on Monday to residents who live along the foothills. The notices will ask home and property owners to clear all hazardous growth at least 100 feet from their homes before inspection, which takes place June 1.

Staff Writers Helen Gao and Susan Abram contributed to this report.

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photo, map

Photo:

The Los Angeles Fire Department's new brush clearance deadline has residents upset.

Los Angeles Fire Department

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BRUSH CLEARANCE AREAS