MRCA Fire Division Urges Fire Prevention in Los Angeles Hillsides and Canyons
October 6, 2024
After two years of record rain, and significantly high vegetation growth, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority urges residents to work together to prevent a local fire disaster.
LOS ANGELES (October 6, 2024)—As part of National Fire Prevention Week, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Wildland Firefighting Division is asking residents of the hillside and canyon areas of Los Angeles to work together to prevent catastrophic wildfires near their homes. October through the end of the year is the Santa Ana Wind season when the most devastating wildfires occur in this area.
“This year has the potential to be the worst fire season ever,” said Ken Nelson, Chief of the Fire Division of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a local public agency that provides ranger and fire patrol of the Mulholland corridor and its parklands. “When there is a significant amount of growth like there is this year, we firefighters call it ‘fuel loading.’ It means that the potential for a volatile wildfire is very high. We need all residents to be alert to suspicious activities, particularly in the Mulholland Scenic Overlooks and open space areas. If you see activity that causes concern, call the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Ranger Services at 310 456-7049.”
Chief Nelson noted that in an emergency, residents should always first call 911.
The MRCA has placed bright red high fire alert signs at all of the scenic overlooks and at open space parklands throughout the hillsides and canyons of the Mulholland Corridor from Griffith Park west to the City boundary with Calabasas asking residents to alert MRCA to suspicious activity.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority works year-round to minimize the risk of fire in the more than 80,000 acres of open space it manages in the greater Los Angeles region. The MRCA employs 45 full time, paid call, cadet and volunteer fire fighters—including its park rangers—who are wildland firefighters certified to the same standards as the U.S. Forest Service and CalFire. In this above average wildfire year in California, MRCA firefighters have assisted on seven events throughout the State—increasing their readiness for a local fire.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Fire Division maintains its own firefighting equipment to assist local fire departments in fighting wildfires and to provide fire patrol under high fire alert conditions. Ranger patrol trucks are fitted with slip-ons, and provide flexibility in patrolling the narrow, twisty canyons that characterize the hillsides of the Mulholland corridor. Rangers will be patrolling seven days a week during the high risk periods.
National Fire prevention week is October 6-12, 2024. In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record. The President of the United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national observance during that week every year since 1925.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is a local public park agency dedicated to the preservation and management of open space, urban parkland, watershed lands, trails, and wildlife habitat. The MRCA manages almost 80,000 acres of public parkland and provides natural resources and scientific expertise, critical regional planning services, operations, fire prevention and ranger services, as well as education and leadership programs for thousands of youth each year. It is one of the lead agencies revitalizing the Los Angeles River and its tributaries.
