Make Your Home Defensible, Laguna Beach: Fire Chief Warns

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Yes, your landscaping is lush and luxurious. But is your home fire safe? Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Garcia wants all residents to take a hard look at their homes and the brush that surrounds it.

Now is the time to take action, before fires return.
Though Laguna Beach employs its goat-task force to the hills, and residents are well prepared with the AlertOC platform, there is much more residents, and the city can do to ensure better protection from wildfire.

With a record number of fires burning statewide, well over 1.5 million acres, "we are in an unprecedented crisis," Garcia says.

Garcia shared an update on Laguna Beach's local conditions compared to statewide fire dangers at Tuesday's city council meeting.

Laguna Beach has learned a great deal from studying what went wrong in towns like Malibu and Paradise. In 2019, a handful of local dignitaries visited Paradise's remains after the city burned, and 86 people lost their lives. The sobering question, as City Manager John Pietig, Mayor Bob Whalen, Fire Chief Mike Garcia, and police Capt. Jeff Calvert all agreed: Has Laguna Beach done enough to keep this from happening at home?

The memory of the 1993 wildfire that decimated 441 homes in Laguna Beach is never far from the City Council's thoughts. The similarities between Paradise and Laguna are many.

Approximately 25,000 people lived there. It's a windy, coastal spot, with only a few ways to exit the community.

According to the fire chief, now is the time for residents to do their part to ensure homes and lives are saved.

He pleaded for approval for a wildland-type fire engine in his speech to the council, one better equipped for the rugged terrain of Laguna Beach's hillsides.

Still, for residents, maintaining a defensible space is of utmost importance.

"Unmaintained trees, shrubs, and plants, along with grasses, are potential problems," Garcia explains.

Homeowners should "look at the first 30 feet from the home, then the first 100 feet, remove dead and dying plants, trim tree canopies to keep them a minimum of 10 feet from structures and other trees."

This ensures that "ladder trees" don't spread the fire from the ground to overhead tree canopies. Also, remove leaves and pine needles from the yard, roof, and rain gutter and remove all combustible materials from around and under decks.

During the meeting, city manager John Pietig suggested closing the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park in red flag conditions.

Garcia, councilwomen Toni Iseman and Sue Kempf all agreed that closing OC Parks Wilderness areas would be a good idea.

Implementing fire safety protocols, as suggested by Garcia, will cost upwards of $166 million.

Both Garcia and the council agree that safeguarding everyone's homes and the community is everyone's responsibility.

Be sure to register for the AlertOC "life-or-death" emergency communication system, and have your home evacuation plans ready.

Read also:

12 Dead; 3.1M Acres Burned; 3,900 Structures Lost: CA Fires Map