Trees to Be Trimmed Along Laurel Canyon Boulevard

Sherman Oaks residents and others in the Valley could run into traffic delays this weekend if they use Laurel Canyon Boulevard to go south into Los Angeles. That's because city-contracted crews are trimming the overhead tree canopy to reduce the danger of fires.

The trimming project began Aug. 13 and continues through September. It focuses on streets mainly on the south side of Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills where trees hang below the 14-foot clearance required for access by fire department trucks. If crews find especially large branches they may have to stop traffic temporarily while the limb is cut and removed from the roadway. Laurel Canyon will be worked on over the next two weekends.

“This project has been talked about for years,” said Fire Department Fire Inspector John Novela. “It’s a public safety issue, and it’s getting worse in the Hollywood Hills.

“We’re supposed to have 14 feet of ground clearance so a firetruck can get through,” he said, “but in so many areas we don’t. And it’s fire season right now.”

The tree-trimming project is occurring in a portion of what firefighters call “the zone”: 190,000 parcels designated by the state as being within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The parcels are inspected yearly at a cost of $23 each for property owners.

Previously, 130,000 parcels were included in the zone but as more and more residences have been built in Los Angeles' hilly areas, the list has grown. Further, because of budget cutbacks, the city’s Urban Forestry Division has lengthened its tree-trimming cycle from 13 years to 33 years. Consequently, the Fire Department stepped in to hire trimming contractors to ensure access by its firetrucks.

“We learned from the Oakland fire 20 years ago that out-of-control vegetation feeds a fire, especially tree canopies where fire spreads from tree to tree,” Novela said.

In the devastating Oakland-Berkeley Hills fire of 1991, a grass fire that firefighters thought they had extinguished a day before reignited and spread over 1,520 urban acres. The firestorm left 25 people dead, 150 injured and 3,354 single-family homes destroyed along with 437 apartment and condominium units.

The need to keep the city's trees trimmed is evidenced by the marks on some trees that indicate they've been hit numerous times by trucks, Novela said.

In addition to Laurel Canyon, major east-west cross streets slated for the project include Lookout Mountain Avenue, Kirkwood Drive and Wonderland Avenue. Willow Glen Road has already been trimmed, and trees along portions of Mulholland might be included in the project, Novela said.

Tree-trimming crews typically stop work at 2:30 p.m., he said. They have an experienced arborist on duty to ensure that the trimming won’t damage mature trees. About seven or eight trees have had to be removed entirely, he said, because after trimming for safety access, they were deemed unstable and in danger of falling.

For information about the city’s brush clearance program, click here.