La Honda resident Patty Mayall is on edge this fire season. She says a stretch of road along Highway 84 near Old La Honda Road is lush with vegetation, specifically flammable and invasive French and Scotch broom plants. Branches hang on utility poles along the route.
The memory of last year's CZU Lightning Complex fires, which burned over 86,000 acres, is still fresh in her mind. Mayall, who moved to La Honda in 1989 and was forced to evacuate for eight days last August with her husband, two dogs and two cats when the massive wildfire threatened her home, said her neighbors have been sending vegetation clearing requests to Caltrans to avail. She also heads the group Protect Our Watershed San Mateo County, which has opposed Caltrans' spraying of herbicides in the past near Highway 84.
"Highway 84 is our main artery for everyone who lives in La Honda, San Gregorio, it's what we all had to use last year when we were evacuated," she explained. Mowing has been inconsistent and residents are left wondering when it will happen when Caltrans doesn't respond. She said coastside residents feel ignored by Caltrans. "That road needs to be maintained and cleared. … to see Highway 84 in the state it's in when they want us residents to do the best we can to clear our properties, we need them (Caltrans) to do their job."
She said bushes are encroaching on the roadway and she's seen bicyclists swerve to evade the overgrowth, making it "unsafe for everyone."
"It's just an extreme fire hazard right now. … I'm horrified, and most people are. If it (broom) catches fire, it kind of sparks and creates a lot of embers; it's one of the worst plants you can have along any roadside."
Caltrans spokesperson Alejandro Lopez said Caltrans' maintenance staff of three people for the area (one supervisor, one operator, one maintenance worker) that covers roughly 1,070 lane miles, has performed mowing, weed abatement, brush thinning and tree removals throughout all of last summer and is currently working in this area. They also respond to all roadway, litter and debris, and emergency responses and complaints, he said. The transportation agency has been removing eucalyptus and dead brush on Highway 84 over the last half year, Lopez noted.
This year's dry conditions — statewide precipitation from July 2020 through June 2021 was 49% of average, the lowest ever for any June-July rainfall year in California, according to data compiled by Jan Null, a consultant meteorologist in the Bay Area and founder of Golden Gate Weather Services — also are putting Mayall and other La Honda residents on edge.
Avid bicyclist Liz Chapman, who lives in the Cuesta La Honda Guild, a group of some 300 homes east of Highway 84, frequently rides her bike along the highway. She's seen some mowing begin, but describes it as, "spotty," "haphazard" and "not systematic," and said Caltrans is "cutting it close" by starting it this late into wildfire season. Mayall said she's been asking Caltrans since 2016 to post signs on the road notifications about work to be done ("electronic message boards like the ones in Woodside" she suggested).
"I'm grateful it has opened some stretches, but compared to San Mateo County roads, you'll see a stark difference," she said. "I don't know if they're going to bring out a bigger mower. … They (Caltrans) are clearly short-staffed. If that mower is the best they can muster, I've got to feel sympathy for them."
Cindy Crowe-Urgo, who has lived off of Highway 84 in La Honda for 45 years, said she puts in a service request to clear the brush from the roadside each spring, but has difficulty getting responses from Caltrans. A service request she submitted in April 2020 was "completed" just three weeks ago, for example.
Denise Enea, a retired fire marshal for the Woodside Fire Protection District and executive director of Fire Safe San Mateo County, visited the area Mayall described and agreed that the Scotch broom along the west side of Highway 84 is a "real hazard." Fire Safe San Mateo County is an organization dedicated to protecting property and the environment for county residents in the wildland urban interface. It is difficult to complete extensive clearing along Highway 84 since it's a busy two-lane highway with blind turns and no easy detour, Enea noted.
"There is no room for equipment, trucks or workers to conduct fuel management without closing one lane," she explained. "This is not only very expensive (over $3,500 a day), but takes critical expertise. Caltrans is not always available to assist us and if we work without Caltrans there are extensive permits and criteria. Nothing is impossible but working on Highway 84 and Highway 35 is not an easy task and can be very dangerous."
She noted that communities such as Cuesta La Honda Guild have an "extreme risk of wildfire" and were some of the many residents who had to evacuate during the CZU fires. Fire Safe is working with Cal Fire for some possible funding to clear the roads and it will need to partner with CalTrans.
She noted Cuesta La Honda residents are some of the biggest funders of Fire Safe's chipper program. The La Honda Fire Brigade helps make this program happen, she said.
"Cuesta La Honda is serious about changing the path of wildfire in their community. They aren't afraid of work and have already organized and reduced the amount of hazardous vegetation in their Guild owned parcels. ... Cuesta La Honda has a lot of work yet to do but they have the drive and desire to collaborate and get it accomplished."
Despite the challenges of living in an area with fire hazard, Mayall said it's worth it.
"I love living in paradise," Mayall shared. "I love the air, the trees, the wildlife; it's a wonderful community of people, even with all the challenges."
A spokesperson for State Senator Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said his office "has worked on this issue before," referring to the overgrowth of vegetation on Highway 84.
Nearby, Cal Fire, Caltrans, the Woodside Fire Protection District (WFPD) and PG&E are using a grant to clear brush, thinning/removing trees and weed abatement on Highway 35 between Old La Honda Road and progressing north toward Highway 84, from Aug. 2 to Aug. 13 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Fire Safe, in collaboration with Cal Fire, WFPD and the county have also submitted for another grant that would cover this same kind of work from the most southern San Mateo County line on Highway 35 all the way north to Highway 92, said Don Bullard, Woodside Fire Protection District fire marshal.
"There are many areas like this along Highway 35 that need this kind of attention,” he said in an email. "We've known about these areas for a while and when the opportunity arose through a PG&E grant, Fire Safe, in collaboration with WFPD and Caltrans took the opportunity to apply and were successful in our endeavor and will treat the area between Old La Honda Road and Highway 84. This kind of work is much needed along Highway 35, and when completed, will serve as a nice firebreak along the ridge as well as a safer evacuation route for the residents who live along the Skyline corridor."
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August 07, 2021 at 01:54AM
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