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Defensible Spaces in Sun Valley

Firefighters battle flames above Sun Valley home

Sun Valley Jose Mier Shares Brush Clearance Information

Sun Valley Jose Mier often talks about the variety of neighborhoods we have in Sun Valley and in particular the Stonehurst neighborhood. But some homes in this area as well as other areas like the Olive Terrace home we profiled earlier are located on hillside. For those Sun Valley residents that live in the more rural parts of our community and in mountainous areas should be reminded about brush clearance. This is especially true now that we are dealing with an extremely volatile fire season in the Southland.

Firefighters battle flames above Sun Valley home
Firefighters battle flames above Sun Valley home

It may be one of those things you don’t think about, like changing the battery in your smoke detector or replacing the filter in your air conditioner. Both of those are kind of important, but when it comes down to it keeping your property safe from fire is more important by far. It seems like every fire season the fire department stresses the importance of clearing the brush away from property and yet some of us either don’t heed the warning or forget about it.

That’s why we at Sun Valley Jose Mier thought it would be a good idea to echo those warnings from the fire department and remind our neighbors to take appropriate steps to keep not only their property but that of their neighbors safe. One of the resources available to us is on the Los Angeles Fire Department website. You can read more detail on the site but in brief they speak about a very high fire hazard severity zone (VHFHSZ) and those of us in Sun Valley who live on hillsides or where brush has become overgrown occupy just such areas. The fire department quotes the fire code which states that property owners have to clear brush year round–meaning all brush, weeds, trees and more—from around their structures whether they’re on your property or a neighbor’s. You also have to clear brush within 10 feet of any combustible fence or roadway including a driveway.

It may seem like a daunting task, especially since we are required to apply these standards throughout the whole year but we need only look at what’s occurring around us right now with fires like the Bobcat fire or El Dorado fire. Both of these are occurring in mountainous or very mountainous terrain making it very hard to fight and contain and both continue to threaten property. Please take a moment to assess your own property and what needs to be done to comply with the fire code. A little work in clearing the brush now may mean the difference between inconvenience and losing everything.
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