After the fires: Preparing for possible mudslides

Out in the burn zone of Granada Hills, where the Sayre and Marek fires roared through this month, there wasn't much action today in the area of sandbagging.

Seems as if some residents are taking a laissez-faire attitude when it comes to fear of mudslides, said the Times' Tami Abdollah, who went out there this morning to talk with folks.

She spoke with L.A. city Fire Department Battalion Chief Greg Raynar, who drove through O'Melveny Park in Granada Hills today, surveying burn areas from the recent fires. At least one of the blackened hillsides had no sandbags on it.

"You have to understand, this fire actually occurred in the last 10 days," Raynar said. "It's not like Griffith Park, where they had months and months to prepare." The fires in Griffith Park occurred last spring, well before fire season.

Raynar said a lot of the hillsides affected by the Marek and Sesnon fires were on private land, which meant homeowners were responsible for putting in sandbags. "There's an awful lot of neighborhood here on the periphery of the burn," he said. "The Marek, Sesnon, Sayre fires, all told, it's about 40,000 acres."

Gene Anderson, 72, has lived in the Knollwood area for about 25 years. Today, he chatted with friends at a local auto shop about preparations for the rain taking place in Yorba Linda and other burn sites. But in his neighbohood, all was quiet. "I'm not doing anything, but the hills, there's nothing there," he said. "There's no vegetation to hold it (mud) back. We could get mudslides, but I think we're safe." He said he had never experienced mudslides in the area or fires as severe as those that recently hit his neighborhood of 25 years. He said he believed the drainages in the hillsides and a creek would divert mud and debris away from homes. "The creek, it's dry now, but it will fill up when the rain hits and take it out."

--Tami Abdollah

Photo: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[jbn]

What is being done about the burn areas along the Sepulveda Pass near Getty Center Drive? That hill looks extremely unsteady, and there are already little places where dirt is falling down the hillside. Add rain, and Sepulveda could easily become a river of mud, burying motorists and shutting down one of the 2 ways you can get between the SFV and Westside. Also, there are multi-million dollar houses just sitting on the edge of the burn areas. Are those people being told to prepare for a disaster? I sit in that traffic everyday and will not being taking that route when it rains. This is a major concern for the city.