Major Milestones Achieved in Altadena Fire Debris Removal Operations

The Altadena fire debris removal program has reached significant completion milestones, with 98% of properties cleared and 95% of rights of entry returned to Los Angeles County as of Monday, according to program officials. 

Colonel Sonny B. Avichal, who oversees the debris removal operations, reported that 5,424 properties have been cleared of the 5,508 that opted into the program. Only about 530 property owners have opted out of the federal debris removal assistance. 

The operation has scaled down dramatically from its peak, with debris removal crews reduced from 129 at maximum capacity to just 19 crews currently working in the field. The Altadena Golf Course facility, which has served as a central staging area for debris processing, is expected to stop accepting new material by July 4 as operations wind down. 

“We are slowly getting in additional properties and then we should get a bump of the final bump of properties, which should be to us no later than 15 July,” Avichal said during Monday’s Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations meeting.

The final wave of properties includes 47 special inclusion properties and 63 commercial properties, an increase of 37 since last week. Commercial properties include any business structures as well as multifamily housing that is not owner-occupied, according to program officials. 

Special inclusion properties are those the county has requested FEMA include in debris removal operations, typically for health and safety reasons. 

The program will also handle abatement properties for property owners who either did nothing or opted out but failed to complete private debris removal. These are properties where “the county will come in and essentially do an abatement,” Avichal explained. 

While the golf course facility will cease intake by Independence Day, restoration of the site will take months, meaning truck traffic will continue but at significantly reduced levels compared to recent months. 

The debris removal operation has been coordinated between FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Los Angeles County following the devastating January fires that swept through Altadena and surrounding communities.