San Diego County Wildfire Prevention Laws Fail During Neighborhood Disputes – NBC 7 San Diego
Defensible Space: Anyone who has lived through a wildfire knows these two words well. They know that homes with landscaping free of brush and flammable vegetation have a better chance of surviving when the next fire sweeps through San Diego County.
But what happens when your next-door neighbor doesn’t maintain a defensible space alongside your property?
Viewers have reached out to NBC 7 Investigates for help with exactly this predicament after saying they failed to get results on their own. Ultimately, several fire districts painted a troubling picture. Under current California fire code laws, if your neighbor’s landscaping is putting your home at risk, there’s simply not much you can do.
In one case, a Cal Fire firefighter planted dozens of Italian cypress trees within 10 feet of his neighbor’s home in Fallbrook. This neighbor, Kristi Lueking, contacted NBC 7 Investigates after fire district officials told her their hands were tied.
“It’s just not fair,” Lueking said. “Sometimes what’s legal isn’t right. It may be legal, but what he did was wrong.
NBC 7 This photo, taken in October, shows newly planted Italian cypress trees along the property line between two houses.
Italian cypresses are considered highly flammable. They collect dry dead matter and burn quickly. They appear on the county’s unwanted plant list – which it advises not to plant within 50 feet of any structure. In fact, the popular landscaping plant’s reputation for igniting is so notorious that many Southern California firefighters commonly refer to Italian cypress trees as “Roman candles.”
“Every day I look at them and my stomach hurts,” Lueking said, gazing at the wall of trees planted outside her bedroom window.
She says her neighbor planted the trees in August after confronting him about running an Airbnb on his property. NBC 7 Investigates discovered that the Airbnb listing was hosted by Jonathan Wolfe. Property records confirm Wolfe owns this home, and government records confirm Wolfe is a paramedic with Cal Fire.
Fire hazards may be lurking near you. Fire Marshal Jim Davidson of the Valley Center Fire Protection District invited NBC 7 Investigates during a routine inspection of a home.
What Wolfe did was not illegal, according to several fire department officials.
This month, NBC 7 Investigates attended a special Wildfire Safety Seminar presented by Cal Fire. Laws require owners to maintain three areas of their properties to code. It is forbidden to plant trees within 10 feet of your house. They should be pruned so that no branches extend into this area. Any other trees within 100 feet of your home should also be trimmed. As for the grass, it should be shorter than six inches if it’s within 50 feet of your house.
But Cal Fire Captain Neil Czapinski told us those rules don’t apply to your property line and nearby structures. Trees can be planted there, even if they are within 10 feet of your neighbor’s house.
Cal Fire This illustration was released by Cal Fire to inform the public of defensible space laws and advisories.
“Unfortunately there is not much we can do,” Czapinski said. “If you’re that person and you want to have it all to your property line, that’s definitely your ability to do that.”
The North County Fire Protection District manages the Fallbrook neighborhood where Lueking and Wolfe live. Separate officials confirmed to NBC 7 Investigates that Wolfe is not breaking any codes, as long as he keeps the trees alive and green and has an irrigation system to keep them watered.
NBC 7 Investigates attempted to reach Wolfe at his home, by mail and through his Airbnb inbox. We wanted to ask him about planting dozens of trees that are on the county advisory list near his neighbor’s house, but he never got back to us. We asked Cal Fire to comment on trees planted by their own firefighter, but he said it would be inappropriate to comment on a dispute between neighbors.
About 35 miles southeast of Valley Center, another nearby wildfire issue is expected to end with better results.
“It’s just a big life-threatening situation waiting to happen,” Dan Scampini says as he shows our team the acres of dry, uncut tall grass next to his house.
Scampini would know. He lived through the Paradise Fire before moving to Southern California. He owns a cow named Milka along with other farm animals and constantly worries about having enough time to get everyone to safety in the event of a forest fire.
“It’s not just tall grass,” says Scampini. “It’s tall, dead, dry grass. And a little cigarette, a little spark from any kind of equipment, it’ll ignite. It’s a huge fire hazard, not just for me, but for all the neighbors here.
He says he nervously watched the grass grow up to four feet tall this spring. The Valley Center Fire Protection District said it issued two notices of violation to its neighbor. After our investigating producer spoke with this man on the phone, he told Scampini and us that he would have the grass cut.
Back in Fallbrook, Lueking has no choice but to hope that his neighbor changes his mind. She says she’s shocked that any neighbor would do this, but especially a firefighter.
“What kind of human being would do that to another person?” Lueking asked.
Living in this Fallbrook home for 20 years, Lueking has witnessed numerous wildfires, including a close call on Christmas Eve two years ago that caused many of his neighbors to evacuate. Now, the image of embers from the next fire clinging to the tree branches surrounding his house is never far from his mind.
“How can I escape?” I would be trapped. I feel that I would be trapped.
Cal Fire said the best way to mitigate wildfire risk along property lines is to foster a better relationship with your neighbors. This could include offering to go onto their property to cut grass or remove flammable items. Barring that, they say the best option is to fire toughen your home with fire resistant building materials or accessories.
You can read about Defensible Space Laws hereand find out what you can do to protect your home.
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