On Monday Jan. 6, a packed crowd gathered in San Pedro to discuss a series of small fires that had marred the town’s 102-acre coastal nature preserve early this year.
A promised update on those incidents was delivered this week — but due to the outbreak a week ago of L.A.’s widespread series of large fires, the followup was limited.
The day after that first meeting city resources were poured into major wildfires that erupted in the city’s northern territories, pushing a full follow-up report back a bit.
All of the eight burned areas in the White Point Nature Preserve at 1600 W. Paseo Del Mar are still being investigated as arson cases, Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker told about 80-100 people at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Auditorium in San Pedro on Tuesday night, Jan. 14.
For now, the investigation continues, he said, as the city’s resources remain overwhelmed by the devastating L.A. wildfires that are still burning.
A promised full report on the nature preserve incidents, he added, will be presented in 30 days.
In the meantime, law enforcement patrols, both police and fire, are now conducting surveillance at the preserve, officials said, and neighbors are continuing their efforts in keeping “eyes and ears” on the wildlife area.
A group of port-a-potties on the property that were burned down have been replaced.
Among more recent news shared by McOsker was that four small (1-2 acres) grass or brush fires also have been reported recently at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park at 25820 Vermont Ave., Harbor City. An arrest has been made in that case, he added. No new fires in the nature preserve have been reported in the past week.
“This week we’ve been keeping our eyes on all of these areas (in the Harbor Area), on every hillside,” McOsker told residents, “Peck Park, Malloy, all of them.”
While firefighting resources have been deployed to the wildfire areas at the north end of the city, the Harbor Area remains protected and crews are maintaining quick response times to calls, McOsker said.
Adrienne Mohan, executive director of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy which oversees the preserve, said brush clearance and maintenance is being kept current at the bluff-top ocean-front nature site, noting that the native plants in place there also are not as flammable as non-native plants are.
Additional emphasis can be expected in the coming months, McOsker said, for more pro-active brush clearance on private properties.
McOsker said discussions are in play for a dedicated, walkable bicycle path to be added along the southern ocean-side perimeter of the preserve. But it is the motorized, two-wheeled vehicles that are bringing the most complaints from residents who say the upper back hillsides in the north end of the preserve have been taken over by those using dirt trails to race.
Among concerns raised by residents during the question-answer period were:
- The upcoming illegal fireworks season; McOsker said his office is continuing to crack down on violators. Officers now knock on doors to issue in-person warnings for those known to have engaged in illegal fireworks in the past, he said. An outbreak of illegal fireworks in one San Pedro neighborhood two years ago “was the one that put me over the top,” McOsker said, adding that the crisis the city is now seeing has everyone more aware of the dangers.
- The need for dedicated overnight patrols at the preserve. “Additional patrols at night seems like something we can do,” McOsker said.
- Community evacuation plans.
- A need for more public safety resources which McOsker said he has always favored but added funding remains a challenge.