KEEPING THE BRUSH CLEARED FIRE SAFETY INSPECTIONS SET FOR MAY 1.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer GLENDALE - After a 750-acre wildfire tore through the Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains are a small mountain range located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, Southern California, The United States of America (USA). The range is commonly known simply as the Verdugos. last year, firefighters took solace in one fact - there were 750 fewer acres of hillside to worry about in this year's approaching fire season. Still, with nearly 10,000 acres of undeveloped wildland in the mountains above Glendale, a repeat of last year's wildfire is a major concern, Glendale Urban Fire Forester Doug Nickles said Friday as he prepared for the annual May 1 fire safety inspections. ``This is the time of year that we start to abate abate v. to do away with a problem, such as a public or private nuisance or some structure built contrary to public policy. This can include dikes which illegally direct water onto a neighbors property, high volume noise from a rock band or a factory, an improvement the hazard,'' Nickles said. ``This is the time of year when we get into action.'' In September, more than 600 firefighters battled the Mountain Fire, which did not damage any homes but served as a costly wake-up call to the Fire Department and the communities throughout the foothills, said Larry Van Avery, whose home was almost consumed in a 1973 Glendale wildfire. Van Avery is chairman of the Whiting Woods Fire Safety Task Force, a nationally recognized community group that is organizing a fire safety cleanup day May 3. The Whiting Woods group will distribute educational fliers and clear underbrush and other fire hazards in order to prevent a repeat of last year's blaze. Education and pre-emptive pre·emp·tive or pre-emp·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of preemption. 2. Having or granted by the right of preemption. 3. a. containment are the paramount methods to avoid wildfires like last year's, Van Avery said. ``When you see a fire cresting crest·ing n. An ornamental ridge, as on top of a wall or roof. the ridge and coming down the ridge, there's basically nothing you can do to stop it,'' Van Avery said. ``It's kind of like a war zone. It's about limiting damage and preventing deaths, if it comes to that.'' On Wednesday, Nickles pointed out several measures that the Fire Department has taken at Verdugo Park, an area of particular concern because of the proximity of houses to the popular park wildlands. ``Because it is a high-use area, it is a definite concern,'' Nickles said. Nickles and the Fire Department crews thin out overgrown overgrown said of a part that has not been kept trimmed. overgrown hoof overgrown hooves put unusual stresses on bones and tendons and allow for distortion of the wall and sole. underbrush and cut dried grass and other types of ``flashy fuel'' that can speed up the spread of a fire once it starts. Laurel sumac Noun 1. laurel sumac - small aromatic evergreen shrub of California having paniculate leaves and whitish berries; in some classifications included in genus Rhus Malosma laurina, Rhus laurina bushes - the shoots of which can grow six feet per year - are some of the most flammable plants on the hillside and are cut back often, Nickles said. Also on Nickles' hit list of plants that can cause fire danger are eucalyptus trees, because of the amount of dry waste they produce, and pine trees - ``grease wood'' - because of its high oil content. Among the shrubs that Nickles suggests for fire-safe Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, landscaping are ground covers such as rosemary, lantana lantana (lăntā`nə): see verbena. lantana Any of more than 150 shrubs that make up the genus Lantana in the verbena family, native to the New World and African tropics. and coyote coyote (kī`ōt, kīō`tē) or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. It is found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country; it is also called brush wolf. bush, all of which retain moisture well. For more information on wildfire prevention, call (818) 548-4810 or visit www.firewise.org. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Doug Nickles, Glendale urban fire forester, points out areas in Verdugo Park that will need brush clearance, to prevent the rapid spread of wildfires. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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