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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.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, July 1, 2017. Corralitas Drive neighbors report hearing hawks calling for hours outside their homes. This telephone pole near the top of Corralitas Drive is a regular perch for Red Tails in the neighborhood. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Last Saturday and again today, starting at dawn and continuing for hours, a recently fledged Red Tail Hawk was calling to be fed. This is a particularly large youngster.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 1, 2017. Even young hawks are aware of people watching them.
We suspect the Red Tails have a nest in a tall pine tree on Corralitas Drive. About a month ago, one neighbor reported seeing a large adult Red Tail pluck a squirrel out of a palm tree, then fly less than 100' to another neighbor's pine tree, landing in an opening of the branches near the top of the tree. It appeared to be doing something in the tree with the squirrel as if it were feeding chicks. It was too far for photos with a cell phone. We usually see Red Tails eat meals atop telephone poles around the neighborhood.
The neighbor with the pine tree reported hawks frequently circling and calling in and around the tree and house this year. This is typical nesting behavior in our neighborhood (we've watched the Red Tails in the nest on the 2 Freeway for years). Since they nest high in the trees, neighbors are not always aware of the nest. We've seen Red Tail juveniles return to the nest in the evenings months after they've fledged.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor June 6, 2017. Aside from the potential risk of fire fueled by dry weeds and unrestricted vehicle access to the Red Car Property, there are other risks both on the Red Car Property and adjacent lots. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
1. Several adjacent Lake View Ave, Silver Ridge Ave and Corralitas Drive neighbors have failed to do their brush clearance. There is a large Castor Bean forest growing on one Lake View Ave lot. Castor Bean Plants are non-native, highly invasive. All parts of the plant are extremely toxic and emit a toxic gas when burned (Ricin). Castor Beans will take over entire hillsides, quickly crowding out any native species.
The power lines in the middle of the slope run along the property line between the Red Car Property and adjacent Lake View and Silver Ridge lots.
2. At least one telephone pole (see arrow in photo above) appears bowed or bent. With fires in 2014 and 2016, neighbors wonder if the pole has been weakened and needs replacing.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 16, 2016. Several neighbors spent months after the 2016 fire getting the runaround from DWP and AT&T regarding the status of the pole. Nothing ever seems to have been resolved.
3. There are several large dead and dying trees near the power lines including what's left of one pine tree leaning at a 45 degree angle (see first photo). The trees appear to be on the adjacent Lake View lots. In April, DWP contractors trimmed trees under and within 10' of the high voltage lines in the Red Car Canyon. However, Eucalyptus can collapse months after the rainy season, usually in July and August. At least one of the two big dead trees on the slope is Eucalyptus and perilously close to a telephone pole that has a transformer on top (see first photo).
The first photo does show one positive thing. The protected native Black Walnuts and Coast Live Oak, along with other large trees are recovering from the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 28, 2017. This morning, tree trimmers were working in Red Car Canyon. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 28, 2017. It appears they were only trimming trees on the Lake View side up at the power lines, which is also the property line. I confirmed by phone with Pacific Coast Tree Contractors that they were doing work in the area for the DWP today. They've trimmed trees around the power lines on the Red Car Property for the DWP, for many years.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 28, 2017. There has been no effort to clear brush on the Red Car Property. Red Car Canyon is where LAFD and their partner agencies put a stop to last June's Silver Lake Fire. It burned right up to adjacent homes on the west side of the property. The property was not cleared of remaining brush and dead trees until the following December.
The May 1st deadline for brush clearance is Monday. There has been no effort to clear brush on the Red Car Property.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016. We documented the quick demise of the huge Eucalyptus on the upper part of the slope in 2015. It's in an Adelbert backyard, adjacent to the Red Car Property. The lower dead Eucalyptus died a few months later. It's on the Red Car Property. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016. A third and even larger Eucalyptus died this year within the Silver Lake Court, a public right-of-way. High voltage lines appear to pass through the Eucalyptus adjacent to the dead tree. A City crew cleared brush from the paper street months ago, but left the tree.
Silver Lake Court is a City "paper street," west of and adjacent to the Red Car Property. Worth noting, in the 2003, failed 75 home development application for the Red Car Property, this was identified as the "open space lot." The open space lot included the slope contained by a giant retaining wall.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 16, 2016. The stand of dead trees is on the Red Car Property's Lot C, at India Street. They are directly below power lines. The trees died in 2013. We don't know why this is acceptable to LAFD Brush Unit or LADWP. We submit photos of them every year to the Brush Unit.
During the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire, neighbors on Roselin, and Riverside Dr, upslope from this location, witnessed 6 - 8" burning embers flying by their houses.
As of today, neighbors report no brush clearance has occurred on the Red Car Property, other than the previously mentioned clearance around the construction fence. One neighbor reported seeing a LAFD Fire Marshall drive in and out of the property north of India Street yesterday.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, July 21, 2016. One month after the Silver Lake Fire, It appears someone the DWP may be trimming trees around above the power lines on the Lake View side (left side of photo) of the Red Car Property. Neighbors were unable to confirm.
We received word from CD13 yesterday that DWP was in the area and would be assessing the poles on the slope above the Red Car Property. DWP will be replacing at least one. Neighbors expressed increasing concern to CD13 regarding the power lines in the trees that were now drying out after the fire. Some neighbors have also had difficulty in getting answers from the DWP, when attempting follow up with DWP regarding trees and powers lines.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 20, 2016. This photo was taken the day after the fire, compare it with today's photo. Many of the trees on either side of the canyon did not catch fire, but are suffering from the extreme heat of the fire. Almost all are now exhibiting new growth. The California Black Walnuts in particular are coming back quickly. (We will be following the trees' recovery from fire.)
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, April 19, 2016. Asphault is no substitue for concrete on a well used public staircase. We will follow up with the DWP on this one.
Photos: Corralitas Neighbors, April 19, 2016. Today, the DWP dug up a landing on the Corralitas Public Staircase to put in water main connections for a duplex under construction at the top of the public staircase.
Neighbors were advised the DWP would be putting n a water main connection off the public staircase this week. However we had no idea the DWP would be digging up the public staircase and started sending photos first thing this morning. We posted the photos to our Twitter feed as soon as we received them.
According to one neighbor, the DWP dug a trench all the way up the hill, on the opposite side of the public staircase, then crossed under the staircase at the base of the last flight of stairs. According to the workers on site, they would only be replacing the landing they dug up.
We hope the work doesn't undermine the Corralitas Public Staircase. The staircase dates to at least 1922 as shown in the Hunter Terrace - Elysian Gardens real estate brochure). Portions of the staircase are in dire need of repair.
The two flights at the bottom of the public staircase were rebuilt in 1961, when the state cut deeply into the hillside for construction of the 2 Freeway. From 1960 - 1962, Rosebud, Corralitas and the pubic staircase were moved to accommodate freeway construction.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, April 12, 2016. Tuesday, the City Department of Transportation (DOT) mistakenly placed temporary No Parking signs on both sides of Corralitas Drive between Rosebud and the top of the hill - covering 80% of the entire hillside street with only one means of access.
Today, we learned the signs were for the DWP to put in a water main connection to a duplex under construction at the top of the Corralitas Public Staircase. After I spoke by phone to the DWP site supervisor this morning, he went to the street and removed all the unnecessary signs. The remaining signs are around construction site at either end of the public staircase. DWP needs the parking for their vehicles and to leave a lane open for cars going up and down the hill.
Work should be complete next week. The Corralitas Public Staircase will be closed to the public on the days they are working there. Work should start later this week and take about 2 days (not a month as the no parking permit was issued to the DWP).
Tuesday, neighbors were fuming as there was no information, nor warning prior to the signs showing up. Corralitas neighbors worked together quickly sharing information so we could follow up. A number of neighbors spoke to the DWP site supervisor in the street today. He encouraged us to talk to them on site if there are questions or problems.
Good work neighbors!
Previous: Mystery No Parking Signs
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, January 8, 2016. LA DWP restored water service to Riverside Place at 7:45 this morning, after working on the broken water main since 9 last night. The same crew was still cleaning up at 9:15 this morning.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, January 8, 2015. Riverside Place is already a narrow street to begin with, it's also a substandard hillside street without a regulation turnaround, and only one means of vehicle access. If you were trapped on this side of the water main break, you could only get out on foot or on bicycle.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, January 7, 2016, 8PM. Water is now shut off after neighbors reported a water main break on Riverside Place to the DWP.
Vandiveer wrote in an email, "It was really weird because the water was coming up like fountains, about 4-8” high, all along the edges of the asphalt in several dozen places (not exaggerating), just the sides/edges of the street where the asphalt ends."
Report water main breaks, power lines down and power failures 24/7: 1-800-DIAL-DWP. You can try their website for more info, but it's a bit cumbersome: www.LADWP.com
As if the first El Niño storms didn't bring enough water to the neighborhood this week...
Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 9, 2015. While walking through Red Car Canyon, I heard a bird singing a tune I didn't recognize. It was the only bird in the canyon who did not seem to care about the Great Horned Owl sitting in a pine tree, 50' away. Unfortunately, this was the best shot I could get of the Northern Flicker, a large species of woodpecker. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Northern Flicker is a migratory bird that eats ants, beetles and other insect larvae found underground. That might explain why the previous times I have seen this bird, it was only on the north end of the Red Car Property. There are a number of native Harvester Ant colonies on the north end of the property.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 9, 2015. The Flicker was so hard to find and photograph because he was practically at the top of the 75' tall, dead Eucalyptus tree in the the densely wooded canyon. (DWP contractors trimmed some branches, near the power lines, from the tree earlier this year.)
Note: I'm not a bird watcher. I generally pay attention to birds because they will alert you to a predator like a hawk or an owl, or even a cat. I listen for the unusual or alarmed calls, or when suddenly there are no birds calling at all. I look around near the tree tops and sometimes, I find something interesting.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 15, 2015. The most recent dead Eucalyptus above the Red Car Property, may either be on private property for an adjacent home or the paper street of Silver Lake Court. Either way, it is up against the power lines and should be removed. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Click here for all our dead tree posts.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2, November 7, 2015. According to the tree trimmers on the Red Car Property this morning, they were DWP contractors trimming back trees near the power lines on the Lake View side.
The DWP website says there's supposed to be 4' of clearance between trees and high voltage power lines in high fire danger areas (that would be us - the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone). DO NOT attempt to trim the trees yourself. Call 1-800-DIAL-DWP or use the City's 311 link to the DWP website for more information on their tree trimming program.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, November 6, 2015. Yesterday, a chipper was parked in Red Car Canyon. A neighbor on Silver Ridge, directly adjacent to the Red Car Property, said they received notice from the DWP that tree trimmers would be trimming trees around the power lines on the slope below their house this week.
DWP tree trimmers were out at about the same time last year.
It might be a good time to consider thinning your trees before another Santa Ana Wind event. With monster El Nino rains predicted, you should definitely be looking at your Eucalyptus trees. Consider thinning the branches out, and cutting down the dead Eucalyptus.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, October 20, 2015. Various utility companies left their tags on Lake View Ave and Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase, as well as the paper street of Silver Lake Court. We suspect this is involved with the sewer work in the area.
Worth noting, I requested a repainting of the red curb on Lake View at the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase in early August to the Dept of Transportation (DOT), service request # 44828. Of course the DOT doesn't bother to put a date on the public website (that is if they even found the curb. It does not show they've even investigated. There does not appear to be accountability at the DOT. That's another reason we post things to the blog.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 1, 2015. This is not an unpaved public street. It is private property: APN: 5438-007-001, also known as Lot C, north of India Street on the County Assessor's maps. The Acura is parked there with someone hanging out inside. The engine was not running. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
When a neighbor sent photos early this morning of the campsite and cars blocking the trail on Lot C of the Red Car Property, I immediately sent them to the property owner's rep Howard Fields, LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis, City Councilmember O'Farrell's Deputy Adam Bass (CD13) and City Attorney William Larsen. There has been an ongoing squatter problem with a couple of properties adjacent to this end of the Red Car Property.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 12, 2015. Since March, neighbors have been complaining about squatters on 2340 2344 Riverside Drive*, a vacant lot adjacent to the Red Car Property, just about 50' from this morning's campsite.
As of September, there was an increase in activity on the 20-30' portion of the downslope where all the construction debris, tires and junk is stored, as suddenly it was being moved around. The downslope 20-30' belongs to the Red Car Property not to 2340 2344 Riverside Drive*. The flat portion of the lot was being used as a bathroom and dumping ground again. I let all the aforementioned authorities and the Red Car Property owner's rep know about it several times in September. Neighbors reported an increase in activity too, including when someone had tapped into the DWP transformer on the telephone pole at Gilroy with an extension cord to another adjacent garage known to house squatters.
Since early May, things had been quiet on the Red Car Property. Do not confront these squatters. These people appear to have been living on the street a long time and may not be entirely stable.
Until we know how to best deal with this situation, I suggest sending photos of problems on the Red Car Property to CD13: adam.bass@lacity.org with Red Car Property in the subject line. If it is an emergency call 911.
*2344 is the vacant Riverside Drive lot with the squatters. 2340 Riverside Drive is the adjacent house. At one time, the same family owned both properties. The house is being flipped. The adjacent vacant lot has squatters. Both properties use the Red Car Property's Lot C for access.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July25, 2015. If you've got a garden, chances are, you had buckets out to catch last weekends' torrential rain. Now you have mosquito larvae swimming around. If you haven't already, use it to water your plants today, before the the next generation of mosquitoes takes flight.
Be sure to check your yard for standing water and don't let it go to waste! Plan ahead for next winter's rains by looking at the drainage from your roof (and your air conditioner's condensate drain for that matter) and consider installing rain barrels and/or drainage swales. According to the MWD website, the DWP may still be offer rebates on rain barrels, but good luck with that.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 28, 2014. DWP tree contractors are trimming trees growing into the high voltage power lines (the uppermost utility lines on the telephone poles). Tuesday, they were seen working in Red Car Canyon. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
A month ago, I ran into the supervisor on the Red Car Property. He was prioritizing trees in the area. He said they'd be in the neighborhood for a few weeks. He was well aware of the Red Car Property as he'd been working this neighborhood for the past 10 years. I reminded him of the 2011 windstorm that brought down so many trees in the canyon.
Photos: Diane Edwardson, July 22, 2014. An approximately 3' diameter slab of concrete, not only shifts loudly under the weight of passing vehicles, it shifted under my body weight alone. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
There are 3 "DWP Water" caps in the street directly adjacent to the shifting concrete. The DWP has been digging up and replacing the same concrete for a very long time. At the very least, they should have some warning signs up on this very narrow segment of the street for unsuspecting drivers. If it shifts under my body weight, a big truck might cause damage not only to the concrete, but the water lines below. The DWP seems to be negligent here.
A few houses north, at 2508 Lake View Ave, the street is completely buckled with the number of times its been dug up and put back. Its crumbling horribly.
As far back as 2009 & 2011, there were promises of repaving & geotechnical studies & excuses by then City Councilmember (now Mayor) Eric Garcetti's staff. We've contacted City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell's staff on today's conditions. We'll keep you posted.
See earlier posts:
Urgent Repairs Needed: Nov. 29, 2011
Needed Paving More Than 25 Years: Nov. 30, 2011
Hazard Repaired: Nov. 30, 2011
