L.A. accused of ignoring state fire safety rules

The city permitted development in high-risk areas, lawsuit says, citing 75 examples.

- BY NOAH HAGGERTY

CONSTRUCTION on Sandal Lane has caught the eye of fire safety watchdogs.

The city of Los Angeles repeatedly ignored state wildfire safety regulations as it permitted new development in areas with severe fire hazards, a lawsuit filed Dec. 23 in L.A. County Superior Court alleges.

The lawsuit, brought by the State Alliance for Firesafe Road Regulations and the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., provided 75 examples of building permits and other plans approved by the city that the lawsuit alleges violate requirements known as the state’s “minimum firesafe regulations.”

The regulations require wide, flat roads with only short dead-end offshoots to ensure easy evacuation for residents and easy access for fire crews in fire-prone areas. They also require strategic fuel breaks to slow the progression of flames, standardized fire hydrants and water sources to aid the firefight, and when practical, at least 30 feet between buildings and the property lines to limit the spread of fire between homes.

In 2021 the Legislature expanded the areas where these rules apply to include not only the wildlands where the state’s firefighters respond to fires, but also “very high” fire hazard areas within cities such as Los Angeles. Yet fire safety watchdogs say the regulations are inconsistently enforced.

"It's so tragic that good legislation supported by clear direction from the state attorney general goes woefully ignored because oversight and enforcement are lacking,” said Marylee Guinon, president of the State Alliance for Firesafe Road Regulations, a nonprofit founded in 2021 to protect the minimum firesafe regulations. “Existing communities and future communities are at risk.”

The lawsuit is the latest instance of fire safety watchdogs teaming up with residential groups to stop unrestrained development in hazardous areas as the state pushes to address its housing crisis.