FIRE PERIL FLARES UP EARLY SUMMER HEAT DRIES OUT HILLSIDES; ARSON WATCH AT WORK.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

With the threat of a hot and dry summer, fire officials have kicked off the fire season early, ordering clearance of dry brush and calling in volunteers to watch for arsonists.

Heavy winter rains spurred lush growth in the region, creating a risk for major wildfires this summer.

``If we truly are going to see hotter weather, we're going to see more extra-dry fuel,'' said Los Angeles fire Capt. Scott Steffes, second in command of the city's brush clearance unit. ``There are areas that haven't burned in 30, 40 years.''

Authorities from Lancaster, Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Malibu, Los Angeles and La Canada Flintridge have been ordering property owners to clear dry brambles and dense undergrowth to stem the threat of a tough wildfire season.

Concerned about the risk a fire could pose to homes that adjoin the hills, Los Angeles County firefighters surveyed the brush along foothills in La Canada Flintridge and in other parts of the Angeles National Forest this week to prepare for prescribed burns next Wednesday. Efforts to reduce heavy fuels are done year-round.

``Our concern is that we don't want fire coming out of the canyon and getting into the trees and then burning across the whole town of La Canada Flintridge,'' said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Joe Lindaman, the department's prescribed-fire manager.

``We're way above normal temperature for this time of year. We're gearing up and getting ready to go.''

A team of about 50 Los Angeles city firefighters and volunteers has begun inspecting 130,000 public and private parcels in high-fire-hazard zones such as the Santa Monica Mountains, the Mount Washington area, Baldwin Hills, Elysian Park, parts of San Pedro, and in the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains.

``Brush clearance is a year-round property owner responsibility,'' Steffes said.

About 80 percent of owners so far have complied with brush clearance regulations, he said.

In the county, firefighters have been inspecting 33,000 properties, enforcing a requirement to clear brush from within 200 feet of buildings.

A rainy winter has added to vegetation around Los Angeles. Weather specialists said downtown Los Angeles received 17.94 inches of rain this winter, compared with 11.57 inches last year.

``We've had above-normal rain,'' said Curt Kaplan, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service. ``It's very green now. As summer comes along, things will brown up.''

That's all the reason to be ever more vigilant.

``There's a lot of dry brush out there - a lot of fuel for fires,'' said Herbert Spitzer, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Prevention Bureau's Forestry Division.

In Calabasas, Malibu and Topanga Canyon, volunteers have been deployed to watch out for suspicious activity that might spark blazes.

From his post deep in Topanga Canyon, Arson Watch volunteer Allen Emerson said he and his group of about 150 volunteers are on standby alert.

``We're not into red-flag days (warning of extreme danger) yet,'' said Emerson. ``But we're looking out for suspicious activity because the hot weather has dried everything out.''

Unseasonably hot, dry and windy conditions also have prompted the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to deploy its personnel to all 21 units, 24 hours a day, and to hire 1,400 seasonal firefighters.

The unusual move comes as the CDF also has moved air tankers and helicopters from off-season maintenance sites to air bases around the state, where they will be available for dispatch if needed.

``It's hot and especially dry for this time of year,'' said Glen Newman, CDF deputy director for fire protection, who ordered the deployment of the firefighters, who are responsible for protecting more than 30 million acres of state and private land across the state.

``The wind in the north has dried out the vegetation and in many places it is ready to burn,'' he said.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(color) L.A. fire Capts. Joe Lindaman, left, and John Fiechter check handheld weather stations as other officials confer on brush conditions.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Box: PROTECTING YOUR HOME

SOURCES: Knight-Ridder Tribune, Daily News research