Volunteers Clear Brush in Briggs Terrace

A volunteer fire-prevention organization mobilized Saturday in La Crescenta to clear weeds and trim bushes as the threat of a brush fire in the San Gabriel foothills increases with the persistently dry summer weather.

Volunteers from the Crescenta Valley Fire Safe Council assembled in the Briggs Terrace area with landscaping tools, pickup trucks and refreshments from 7 a.m. to noon and focused on homes and public areas on Canyonside Road, Freeman Avenue, Jayma Lane, Maurice Avenue, Dorothy Street and Irving Avenue.

"We have block captains for each of the streets who have identified projects for elderly and disabled people, so the neighbors come and work on the homes of those who can't do it themselves," said Judy Turner, Briggs Terrace coordinator for the C.V. Fire Safe Council.

She described trimming techniques that prevent plant matter from turning into fuel for a spreading brush fire.

"We trim shrubs and weeds away from the house, we'll be working on shrubs and plants, thinning them ,which is what we call 'lacing,'" Turner said. Turner also explained that Fire Safe Council volunteers also do "'lollypopping'—you trim three feet up from the base of a bush so you're preventing 'fuel ladders,' so there's less of a chance of the eaves or roof catching fire preventing a fire from spreading."

Fire Safe Council President Roger Young started the organization in 2009 just prior to the Station Fire, which burned a large portion of the foothills and caused the death of two Los Angeles County firefighters.

Honoring the Firefighters

"There are three reasons why we're doing this," Young said. "The first is to recognize the two firefighters ... who lost their lives: Arnold Quiñones and Ted Hall. The second is to reduce the hazardous fuel within the community to bring focus on the fact the we are no safer from the next fire just because the hillsides burned in '09. And it's to build a sense of community."

Randy Williams, who works for Tujunga-based Anderson Tree Experts, was on hand to provide technical advice on trimming and brush-clearing fire-prevention efforts.

"What some of the homeowners can't handle, we take care of," he said. "On a two-story building a homeowner has trouble getting up there, and our guys are used to heights. It's dangerous working on a ladder."

Williams gauged the cost of fire-preventive tree trimming at $1,200 per eight-hour day for properties with trees such as pines, oaks and sycamores.

Gayle Gallagher, a 30-year area resident, said the Fire Safe Council's work "is a great way to connect with your neighbors, and in case of emergency, it's good to know who your neighbors are if you need help."

Lupe Gonzalez, another Fire Safe Council volunteer, said Saturday's brush clearing work was "for fire prevention and community harmony."

Bobbi Code, one of the senior-citizen homeowners who Fire Safe Council volunteers assisted noted the historic significance of her home at the top of Briggs Terrace. Code has lived in her Freeman Avenue home for 51 years, which she said was originally part of C.V. pioneer Benjamin Briggs' estate circa 1885.

"They were wonderful, that was great," she said of the volunteers' work on her backyard. "I really appreciate them, that was a very nice thing to do."

For information on upcoming C.V. Fire Safe Council events, contact President Roger Young at 818-249-8446 or CVFireSafeCouncil@gmail.com.