• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 3 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Victor Maccharoli
City, forestry, and ground maintenance crews pull work hard Thursday in Parma Park pulling out debris that could cause flooding in the future.

Cube Ad

Recovery efforts continue for Tea Fire

By ERIC LINDBERG

On one of the final twists of Las Alturas Road as it climbs above Sycamore Canyon, a metal gate stands alone in the wreckage of a home lost in the Tea Fire.

Off in the distance, the three stone archways of the Tea Gardens are barely visible on the crest of a small ridge along the ash-gray hillside, marking the origin of the destructive blaze.

A few families are sifting through the remains of their homes. A handful of insurance officials survey the damage.

A renter gets a check for her cleaning deposit back from her landlord, whose house has burned to the ground twice now — first in the Sycamore Canyon Fire, then again on Thursday evening. They share a laugh about the mess she left behind.

At the end of Rincon Vista Road, the arches of the Tea Gardens can also be seen. Homes along the outer curve of the cul-de-sac have been reduced to scorched rubble.

Just a few houses up the block, a homeowner drags trashcans to the curb as a garbage truck maneuvers along the narrow roadway, offering a semblance of normalcy to a neighborhood that will never be the same again.

Days earlier, fire crews made a valiant stand along these streets, fighting back flames blasted by heavy sundowner winds until they subsided in the early morning hours on Friday.

A few turns away, insurance adjusters are also looking over a few places along Conejo Road, an area heavily hit by the wind-whipped fire. Walls have fallen to reveal modest foundations built into the steep hillside.

“Not mansions, just ordinary folks,” said John Ahlman, a retired battalion chief for the city of Santa Barbara’s fire department, adding that Conejo Road has always been a tight-knit neighborhood. “Now it’s all gone.”

A handful of homes in the area will never stand again. Concerns about landslides have restricted building along a portion of Conejo Road.

Across Sycamore Canyon, construction crews have already resumed work on the major landslide area there. City leaders made the decision years ago to prohibit construction on the unstable hillsides.

“Unfortunately, we have an ordinance that says they can’t rebuild,” Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum said. “It’s going to be very hard on those families.”

The municipal code section dates back to 1984, after landslides in the area came to the attention of city officials. Five or six homes went after El Nino rains saturated the slopes a decade ago. At least 10 that burned in the Tea Fire can’t be rebuilt, said Paul Casey, the city’s community development director.

“We have an active landslide, geological landslide going on right there at Stanwood Drive, Sycamore Canyon and Conejo Road,” he said. “Their homes were on land that is moving. … That doesn’t make the situation any easier.”

For those who can rebuild, city officials are trying to make the situation a little easier. Planning officials are expediting the process for those who simply want to rebuild their home as it was.

“We actually have their plans on file, so they can come down and get their plans and start building,” Mayor Blum said. “We’re going to put them to the head of the line.”

Those who want to make changes to the footprint of their homes will have to go through a city design board, but the mayor said they would be pushed to the front of that line as well.

“We’re not going to make it very difficult for them,” she said.

As victims of the fire look forward to the rebuilding process, others are scrambling to ensure more damage doesn’t result from the fire.

In a creek running through Parma Park, city forestry and grounds maintenance crews are hauling chunks of heavy wood and branches up steep hillsides. Chainsaws rumble and spray rough sawdust into the air.

Workers chain thick logs to the scoop of a frontloader. The operator flicks levers and the scoop rises, dragging the fallen branches to a dirt roadway.

A team effort is employed for smaller branches; crews haul them up by rope, hand over hand as others offer vocal support.

Further up the creek, out of sight, a fire crew from the California Department of Corrections based out of Ventura is performing similar work.

“They are dynamite,” Ahlman said. “They are really good people and they deserve a lot of kudos.”

More than a few trees in Parma Park snapped in the heavy wind gusts on Thursday evening. Others fell victim to a wall of flames. But some are still standing and Ahlman is optimistic.

“These trees are pretty fried, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come back,” he said. “Oaks are pretty resilient.”

A few turns down Stanwood Drive, another group is hard at work clearing the Parma debris basin. At the bottom of a 10-foot hole, the top of a standpipe has been uncovered.

Workers will need to clear out tons of sediment to completely expose that pipe, which will block out larger debris while allowing stormwater to continue on below the roadway.

“We’re working Saturday, we’re working Sunday,” said Rick Tomasini, a maintenance supervisor for the county’s public works department. “We’re not stopping.”

There is plenty of work remaining. Crews are restoring a small debris basin built in the weeks after the Sycamore Canyon Fire, in addition to clearing several others on Rattlesnake and Cold Spring creeks.

Flames hit the Sycamore Canyon watershed the hardest. Of the 1,940 acres burned in the Tea Fire, 1,686 are located in areas that drain into the canyon. That represents 67 percent of the watershed, county officials said.

Authorities are urging residents with flood insurance to reconsider their policies to ensure adequate coverage. Those without coverage are being warned that most flood policies have a 30-day waiting period before they go into effect.

Sandbags are also being offered for Tea Fire victims at the city’s annex yard, 401 E. Yanonali St., as well as County Fire Station No. 14, 320 Los Carneros Rd.

Comment on this article

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

those who can't rebuild : 11/21/2008

What happens to land that can't be rebuilt on because of the ordinance? Is the landowner just out of luck?

CURIOUS

---

Erosion Prevention - WoodStraw(r) Erosion Control : 11/24/2008

www.woodstraw.com for info. Developed in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service for extreme erosion prevention following a wildfire. 100% weed-free, reistant to high winds, long lasting and used successfully on slopes up to 70% following wildfires. No glues or tackifiers needed. Easy to apply by hand, blower and helicopter.

A friend

---

Can't Rebuild? : 11/27/2008

Actually according to City staff and the governing ordinance, 5 or 6 of these 10 in the slide area can rebuild now with the assistance of and design prepared by a geotechnical engineer as long as they stay 25' outside the slide boundary. If the remaining 4-5 could get the legal help they need, there is a reasonable chance a judge would rule in their favor that the rebuild ordinance allows them to rebuild as well. These folks are low to moderately low income level and are deserving of such help. Hopefully there is a benefactor willing to help them with their plight. After all, they have been living in their homes there for upward of 50 years and neither this fire or previous fires have changed the geology.

An informed Conejo Rd. Local

---