Story on fire risks along 215

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- City officials say that before a recent pair of fires, Caltrans failed to respond to requests to clean up combustible landscaping along the 215 Freeway.

Palm trees and dry vegetation along the 215 corridor fueled two brush fires that swept alongside the freeway on Monday. Santa Ana winds carried blazing embers that helped the fire to spread southward from its ignition point.

The second of the two fires destroyed a house, a warehouse and caused major damage to a self-storage business.

San Bernardino Fire Chief Michael Conradsaid he attended a meeting with Caltrans officials in July 2007 to press for improved landscaping efforts along 215. But as far as he can tell, the highway agency simply allowed landscaping to dry out.

"The bottom line is, it was left to die," Conrad said.

Following the urban brush fires, Caltrans pledged to immediately go to work on fire-related maintenance.

Agency spokeswoman Barbara Miller cq said that an emergency order -- issued Tuesday night -- will allow Caltrans to spend up to $1 million on work such as fixing guardrails and clearing out burned vegetation.

"They will be going through and removing all the damaged, dry brush and trees," Miller said.
Miller also said ongoing freeway widening efforts will eventually lead much of the current landscaping on 215 being replaced by pavement.

Monday's fires burned along more than one mile of 215, from Base Line to Mill Street. Conrad said the blazes have "pretty much fireproofed that area," but he's still concerned about the dead plants that could line the freeway in a year's time.

Mayor Pat Morris said that on Tuesday, he and Conrad plan to meet with Raymond W. Wolfe, cq director of Caltrans' operations in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, to talk about the continued hazards posed by 215 landscaping.

"We need to get out there and clean it up," Morris said. "There's still a lot of fuel out there."
Morris said Wolfe is new in his post and Tuesday's meeting will be the first time the two will be able to talk about the issue.

But that doesn't mean city officials haven't made previous entreaties to Caltrans. Besides the July 2007 discussion mentioned by Conrad, mayoral chief of staff Jim Morris said city Fire Marshall Doug Dupree has written to Caltrans about the dangers of dry vegetation on 215.

Dupree was not available to comment on Friday. Miller said she could not speak to Caltrans' past interactions with San Bernardino officials concerning hazardous landscaping.

Caltrans' pledges to make improvements don't erase the frustration felt by those who feel that Caltrans has ignored San Bernardino.

Seventh Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said there's no reason for Caltrans officials not to be aware of the hazards posed by unmaintained landscaping.

"This is not the first, second or third time there has been a fire along the freeway," she said.

Laying aside the threat of urban brush fires, there's the issue of whether Caltrans has allowed the the appearance of freeways passing through San Bernardino to deteriorate.

Bob Edwards, cq a member of the city's building and code commission, fire hazards aren't the only landscaping-related problem along 215. He also maintained that freeways are better maintained as they pass through nearby Redlands and Rancho Cucamonga.

In his view, a driver approaching San Bernardino from the Cajon Pass is greeted by a tangle of unkempt landscaping that sends the same message as a "keep out" sign.

"There's nothing that says 'Stop. Let's shop here. Let's eat here. This is a nice town,'" Edwards said.