GETTING SET FOR RAIN STORM WATER WORRIES CITIES.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Officials and property owners in Simi Valley and Moorpark are bracing for the possibility of flooding and mudslides in the wake of last month's wildfires, that blackened 108,000 acres and caused $20 million in damage.

Despite the expanse of the Simi Valley Fire, the wind-whipped flames moved so quickly that burn intensity was relatively low, reducing the chance of erosion and flooding, said Stephen Jewett, a conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a federal agency assessing the burn area.

``Most of the areas had light to medium burn,'' he said. ``If we could get some light, gentle rain, many of the watershed areas could recover on their own.''

High-intensity fires can create what is known as hydrophobic conditions - waxy materials in plants create a waterproof seal on or below the surface of soil, causing rain to run off and cause flooding or mudslides.

Those assessing the fire damage haven't found widespread evidence of hydrophobic conditions in the burn area of the Simi Valley Fire, Jewett said.

Still, city officials in Simi Valley and Moorpark are taking no chances, assessing burn areas and erecting flood control measures where needed before the rainy season comes. Light rain has fallen several times since the fire, but there has been no significant damage.

In Simi Valley, city employees along with workers from the California Conservation Corps have been laying more than 7,000 sandbags and more than 600 feet of concrete barriers in the occupied areas deemed most at risk for erosion - neighborhoods near the north ends of Stearns Street and Erringer Road.

In Moorpark, where nearly a quarter of the city's 8,000 acres burned, officials are still assessing the damage, said Barry Hogan, director of community development. City officials are worried about one group of 30 to 40 homes on the west side of Walnut Canyon Road, he said.

``They're in the floodplain,'' he said. ``There's a concern that in a major storm we might have erosion or mudslides.''

The developer of the Westpoint project, a planned residential neighborhood located above the at-risk homes, has offered to build catch basins, and the city engineer's staff is considering whether other measures must be taken to protect the homes, Hogan said.

The Simi Valley Fire, which broke out Oct. 24 in Val Verde, charred more than 108,000 acres, destroyed 37 homes and 145 outbuildings, and damaged an additional eight homes in the region before it was contained on Nov. 1.

The potential for mudslides depends on how much rain falls on the region this winter and in what quantity. Forecasters are predicting about 15 inches of precipitation, which is normal for Ventura County, said Bill Hoffer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

There are no plans to spread seed on charred areas, Jewett said. Because the burn intensity was relatively low, the seeds of many grasses and other native plants survived the fire and will sprout again, he said. Those assessing the burn area have seen evidence of that already.

Decades of fire rehabilitation have shown that re-seeding isn't an effective method of controlling erosion in Southern California because of the topography and climate, said Robert Griffith, an erosion specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Heavy downpours and Santa Ana winds can whisk seeds away before they germinate, or dry weather can keep grasses from growing, he said.

``Taking that chance when people's lives and property is at stake wouldn't be responsible,'' he said. ``We don't want to gamble with people's well-being.''

Instead, workers are employing proven methods such as mulching - dropping straw or hay on hillsides by hand or from a helicopter - or erecting temporary dams, concrete barriers, or sandbags.

Rehabilitation efforts are prioritized by what is at stake, Griffith said.

``It's sort of like triage in the emergency room,'' he said. ``We'll work to protect human life, then property, then our natural resources. Before the first really big storm, we expect to have in place all the emergency measures we need.''

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, Thomas Berry, 22, of Compton, places sandbags along a hillside near Yosemite Avenue in the Simi Valley area. Recent fires have raised worries about possible floods. Experts hope rains will be gentle enough to allow the scorched earth to recover on its own. However, the sandbags are being placed in strategic areas just in case the region isn't so lucky. At left, other members of the Camarillo-based California Conservation Corps fill bags with sand.

(3) Members of the California Conservation Corps shovel sand into bags for later placement along hillsides to prevent floods.

(4) A charred plant is evidence of the destructive nature of the Simi Valley Fire. In the background, workers fill bags with sand to prevent future flooding and mudslides that might result from storms.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer