City May Target Palm Fronds Over Fire Danger

CORRECTION: This article was corrected at 1p Friday to make the date of the meeting one week from Monday, Aug. 27.

Palm trees … with their fronds framing the Malibu sky … may be the ultimate symbol of California living.

Sculpted heads … with the dead fronds tastefully forming a gorgeous silhouette speartip.

But … as for those dead fronds .…

NEWSCART 77675 ROSENTHAL FRONDS :07

QQQ: COULD BE DANGEROUS.

“…. when the wind picks up, I see them flying all over, and they could be dangerous.”

City councilwoman Laura Rosenthal.

And she’s right.

A flaming palm frond blew down Winter Canyon during the 2007 Canyon Fire … impaling a car full of people as the fiery spear shattered a side window.

The car burned… the people inside pulled to safety.

Dead palm fronds … on the trees … or blown about by the winds … go up like flamethrowers and spread fires.

And they are one of the reasons why Southern California Edison wants to turn off the power in Malibu … and elsewhere … when nasty Santa Anas hit.

Again … Laura Rosenthal …

NEWSCART 77674 ROSENTHAL WIRES BBBB :26

QQQ: THAT COULD POSSIBLY HIT WIRES.

“When we look at the latest plans from Edison about turning off power during high wind events, things that would cause them to turn it off according to them, is high winds and that involves palm fronds and leaves and other things that could be dying and possibly hit wires.”

City councilwoman Laura Rosenthal is asking her four colleagues if the city should move to require Palm fronds to be trimmed.

It’s a trial balloon … goes before the city council on August 27th.