A recent report discusses stepped-up efforts by fire and code enforcement officials to monitor overgrowth to minimize danger to fire. To run a property report for properties housed in the Safeguard database please click on the following link.

San Joaquin County CA
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Rising weeds stoke fire fears among S.J. County inspectors

The sun's finally out. Now go mow that yard.

San Joaquin County's weed warriors fear a bumper crop of grass could fuel fires when temperatures warm and winds pick up later this spring.

Firefighters in some cities are preparing to check every parcel of land, an annual exercise that this year's late rains make all the more important.

"It's going to be atrocious this year," Manteca Fire Chief George Quaresma said. "Those weeds out there are as high as an elephant's eye."

The rain has kept residents indoors and left their lawns to grow unchecked. Now landowners have less time to get the work done before weeds turn a brittle brown, signaling the start of fire season.
Vacant lots and public rights of way are among the areas of concern, said Steve Dalton, the county's fire marshal.

"If we get hot weather too quickly, it's going to dry them out and create a real fire hazard," Dalton said.

Officials are asking the public to eradicate those weeds voluntarily. If you don't, they might do it for you - at your expense.

Manteca firefighters sent out nearly 1,000 citations last year after their citywide spring inspections. The letters warn residents that weeds must be cut within four to six weeks.

If there's no response, the citations are filed in court, costing the property owner more than $100 even if he or she subsequently clears the land.

Occasionally firefighters have to hire contractors to get the job done. That, combined with court fees, ultimately could cost a resident upwards of $300, Quaresma said.

County fire officials have relied in the past upon similar widespread inspections, but that proved to be a huge job. A new ordinance approved by county supervisors this year creates a complaint-driven system, Dalton said.

Officials send notices asking residents to whack their weeds within 14 days. Most comply, he said.

But as in Manteca, those who ignore the request may have to pay for the work themselves.

"People that are responsible are going to take care of their property no matter what happens," Dalton said.

It's not easy, especially this year. There's no designated program to help senior citizens or others who might have trouble keeping their weeds down, Dalton said. Weeds long have been a problem on vacant lots. But rapid development has paved over many of those trouble spots.

Danger remains near the outskirts of expanding cities, where subdivisions abut vacant fields.

Some of those fields likely will remain muddy for a week or more after the rains end, said Pat Vargas, the Tracy Fire Department's interim fire marshal.

Tracy firefighters haven't yet started their inspections, Vargas said. They want to give landowners an opportunity to wheel out their lawn mowers before firing off warning letters.

"It's a timing game," Vargas said. "We're going to address it as soon as we're comfortable doing so."

To view the online article please click on the following link.

San Joaquin County CA Code Enforcement