Fire-charred parts of San Bernardino County on mudslide alert

Published Oct 13, 2009 4:23 PM

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Patty Kindel (R) prepares sandbags as residents prepare in advance of the first rain storm since before the massive Station fire began for the possible major mudslides below the rugged San Gabriel Mountains, scorched and denuded by the 250-square-mile blaze, on October 9, 2009 in La Canada Flintridge, California.

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Rain is also expected over the San Bernardino Mountains. Recent wildfires there scorched about 10,000 acres of forest land. Crews contained one of those fires just a few days ago. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says there hasn’t been much time to prepare for possible mudslides.

The Sheep Fire burned through 7,000 acres of dense brush south of Wrightwood. The worry now is that the soil the vegetation had been holding in place will get wet, and ooze into roadways. Workers from the San Bernardino County Public Works Department are still assessing the burn area.

"Because the fires were still burning last week. So we haven’t had much time. And then they do notifying of residents of there are areas they need to be concerned about."

Roni Edis is with San Bernardino County’s Department of Public Works.

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"We’ve gone through and we’ve been cleaning up channels and culverts, clearing them of debris from the fires so that when the rain comes that the rain can flow through those. So we’ll be watching those areas to make sure if there is a lot of mud or debris that comes down, that we’re there, so we can get it cleared out right away."

Mud-clogged roads are the biggest concern right now. A handful of ranches in Lone Pine Canyon below Wrightwood could also see some mud and debris flow.

Not as much rain is predicted in the burn area left by last month’s Oak Glen fire. But in nearby Yucaipa, crews installed concrete barriers and sandbags to protect a hillside mobile home park where another wildfire scorched steep hillsides about six weeks ago.