Red Car Canyon: Chainsaws, Dry Brush, Dead Trees, Power Lines, What Could Go Wrong?

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, July 17, 2017.  Around 10 AM the sound of chainsaws echoed through Red Car Canyon.  Luckily, there was no accidental sparking of fire. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Red Car Property Neighbor #1 documented the canyon's dry brush on video (posted on our Twitter feed) with the sound of chainsaws grinding away in the background.  The video missed the tree going down, however the neighbor witnessed it happen, texting, "This guy chopped down a dead tree and NARROWLY MISSED THE POWER LINES." 

With so much dry brush on the Red Car Property, neighbors are always on fire watch and alert to potential hazards.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2, July 6, 2017.  We  published this photo last week.  Here, the photo is enlarged, with arrows added showing the location of the two dead trees that died prior to, but were also burned in the 2016 fire.  They appear to be on Lake View Ave lots near the power lines. The smaller of the two trees is the one Red Car Property Neighbor #1 witnessed falling to a chainsaw today. However, because the property lines have an odd arrangement right about there, it's hard to tell which lot the trees are on from the photos.

AT&T has been doing work on their lines on the telephone poles on the slope.  LADWP trimmed trees in April.  We were surprised DWP left the larger of the two trees, considering we'd had two fires in less than two years on the same slope. 

We know LAFD cited the Red Car Property owner as well as adjacent property owners who had not done their brush clearance.  Deadline for at least one adjacent property owner to comply with brush clearance was July 16, 2017.  According to the LAFD website, The Red Car Property owner was sent notice twice, and they failed to meet their compliance date of June 28, 2017.  

Since the first week of May, neighbors have been reminding LAFD Brush Unit and CD13, brush clearance had not been done on the Red Car Property.  We wonder when the property will be red tagged.  But it's not like the Red Car Property owner hasn't ignored the red tags for many years.  Even after last year's fire, they ignored the LAFD red tag order to comply.  LAFD brush clearance contractors cleared the property in December. 

Click here for all our brush clearance posts.