Red Car Property: Film Crew, Dangerous Brush Conditions on May 17, 2016

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 17, 2016, 8:20 PM. I sent this photo and a quick email to the Red Car Property owner's rep and CD13, from my phone, of a film crew on the slope at the south end of the Red Car Property.  I also alerted an upslope neighbor to be aware of the fire risk.

The bright white light is behind the first huge eucalyptus tree.  It is definitely on the Red Car Property.  I pointed out brush clearance had not been done.  I got no response from the owner's rep.  It also went up on Twitter.

Less than a week later, the photo was among the batch of Red Car Property photos sent to LAFD Brush Clearance Unit and CD13.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 19, 2016.  The large eucalyptus trees to the left and downslope of the telephone pole, are on the Red Car Property. The film crew's powerful light had been behind and just above the eucalyptus on the lower part of the slope. The eucalyptus appear to be the same species that have been dying quickly throughout the neighborhood.

Worth noting in the above photo, the lush green trees at the base of the lower eucalyptus and in the foreground were (prior to the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire) healthy, protected native Coast Live Oaks and California Black Walnuts.  There's also a large patch of non-native, invasive and highly toxic castor beans at the base of the steep slope.

A month later, the Silver Lake Fire would rip through this area, where brush clearance still had not been done.  By chance, I received a call from Howard Fields, the Red Car Property owner's rep, on June 16, 2016.  I asked him once again to get the brush clearance done.  He said he would be in town on June 20th and deal with a bunch of Red Car Property related issues. He did not respond to email after the fire.

We're reviewing the conditions before, during and after the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire.