Crime & Safety

Firefighters Step Up Patrols as High Heat Persists

The Monrovia Fire Department has increased hillside patrols because of dangerous weather conditions.

Sweltering weather conditions Tuesday led the to step up its patrols of the city's vulnerable hillsides, Fire Chief Christopher Donovan said.

Firefighters are speaking with local residents, staying on the lookout for suspicious or dangerous activity, and discouraging people from using heavy equipment near the city's dry, brush-covered hillsides, Donovan said.

There is no formula the fire department uses in deciding to increase patrols, but high temperatures and coupled with low humidity and windy conditions usually triggers extra precaution, Donovan said.

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"When the temperatures get high like this we send our on-duty forces and they do just normal patrols up in the hillside area," Donovan said. "This is a little heightened concern for us."

In addition to patrolling its own foothill areas, the department dispatched a water tanker to help the county fight a brush fire in the Agua Dulce area. The fire was about 70 percent contained as of Tuesday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Donovan said that the vast majority of residents are in compliance with the city's stringent brush clearance ordinance. Only about three or four property owners out of about 1,800 high-risk properties have not taken the proper steps to clear hazardous brush, he said.

Property owners who don't comply with the city's ordinance within the next few weeks will face administrative fines, Donovan said. But getting some of the properties cleared remains difficult because some are in the foreclosure process, he said.

Much of the hillside areas behind the city , making them especially vulnerable to brush fires.


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