[Posted by Chuck Almdale]

Our neighboring Audubon Chapter, San Fernando Valley Audubon Society (SFVAS), is circulating a letter to it’s membership, friends and fellow birders including Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society. Many of us have enjoyed the year-round birding opportunities offered by the Sepulveda Basin, and concur with their view as stated below. We encourage you to sign on.

Over the past several years, the SFVAS community has faced an ongoing threat to our safety due to the numerous, almost daily  fires in the Sepulveda Basin, which are alarmingly close to many of our homes and are often in precious wildlife habitat. Despite sounding the alert early last summer, there have been hundreds of fires in the basin since then. Approximately 50% of the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve has been burned. It is time for action!

Contact  Mayor Bass and express your demand
that this situation not be ignored.
Text of a sample email follows which may be copied and pasted
into an email and modified as you see fit.
It should be emailed to :  elliott.layne@lacity.org 
cc:  info@sfvaudubon.org,info@encinopoa.com

Email to:  elliott.layne@lacity.org 
cc:  info@sfvaudubon.org, info@encinopoa.com

Dear Mayor Bass,

Over the past several years, our community has faced an ongoing threat to our safety due to the numerous, almost daily  fires in the Sepulveda Basin, which are alarmingly close to many of our homes and are often in precious wildlife habitat. Since the summer of 2024, over 218 fires have occurred in this area.

Even though  many of these fires have involved small amounts of trash and have been quickly contained by firefighters, they are far from harmless. Ordinary household items can explode or release toxic substances when heated, as happened in June 2024 when  11 LA City firefighters were injured. As evidenced by the Palisades and Eaton fires, we are painfully aware that a small fire can, in an instant, become a massive destructive and deadly fire.

These incidents pose a serious and escalating risk to the safety of nearby residents, park users and the environment. On Wednesday, January 8, Encino residents woke to find smoke filling their homes from a fire in the Basin. On January 5 a group of birdwatchers in the Basin was terrified by a fire deliberately set within a few feet of them. At least 50% of the designated wildlife reserve areas have been incinerated since mid-2024 including nesting sites of the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo. These are just examples of a growing and unacceptable pattern. We are frustrated and disheartened by the City’s continued inaction.

The majority of these fires have originated in or as a result of homeless encampments, which, despite being illegal, are allowed to persist. The City’s current policy of “Hands Off the Homeless” is putting adjacent neighborhoods, our park and its habitat, and our entire community at grave risk. Unless immediate action is taken, we fear it’s only a matter of time before a catastrophic wildfire spreads from this wild-urban interface area to devastate entire communities..

We are demanding the following actions without delay:

1.    Strict enforcement of no camping laws in the Sepulveda Basin. This includes the removal of all encampments, with zero tolerance for trespassing, enforced by City Park Rangers or LAPD. Because encampments can be very well hidden, consideration should be given to using forward-looking infrared (FLIER) thermal cameras to locate and facilitate removal of encampments. The LAFD has this technology in their arsenal.

2.    Immediate enforcement of no overnight parking in the entire Balboa/Sepulveda Dam/Woodley Park area by the City Department of Transportation (DOT).

3.    Increased Park Ranger patrols within the Basin to ensure public safety and enforcement of existing laws, with assistance from LAPD as warranted.

4.    Regular vegetative management by the appropriate City or other agency in accordance with best conservation practices with an emphasis on fire prevention and discouraging encampments.

In the wake of the worst fire devastation in the City’s history, the safety of our community must be the City’s top priority. Mayor Bass, we urge you to take swift, decisive action to protect the lives and homes of those who live here. We refuse to continue to live in fear and we know these demands can be met with immediate and effective action to ensure the safety of our neighborhoods and our park.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]                                                                                                                        
[Your Address]

Link to SFVAS posting:
https://mailchi.mp/98ad683b99ec/sepulveda-basin-fires-take-action-now?e=2cc2c6c758