SchifferLine 1 October 2012 | SchifferLine

Happy Fall….or as they say in LA, When is summer over?

If you thought your summer was over by looking at the calendar, you know very well it’s not! September and October can be two of our hottest months, and true to form, Fall weather — which we refer to as our Indian Summer — may start turning leaves golden soon, but our hot weather continues…. and the fire dangers as well.

We dodged a big bullet on Friday, September 14, when the 90-acre Sepulveda Pass fire was finally subdued after four days by the quick and expert response from the Los Angeles City Fire Department — again. Last year on Labor Day, the LAFD jumped on another Sepulveda Pass fire, and we avoided another possible catastrophe. But please don’t take these acts of quick response for granted as the LAFD continues to push residents to be prepared in these emergencies. As a safety precaution only, some of the residents in Moraga Place at the end of Moraga Drive were evacuated when the fire crept a little too close for comfort — fortunately all of the homes were saved and there was no damage. Hoag Canyon, which is adjacent to both Bel Air Crest, Lower Casiano and Moraga has long been a major concern in that it is almost impossible to clean the brush. The shape of the canyon gives it a natural funnel effect, and it has not been burned since the Bel Air Fire in 1961!. We live in the mountains of Southern California, so we can expect fires, flooding and earthquakes — we had two small earthquakes in Beverly Hills last month! And while we have outstanding emergency response teams nearby, do not forget that the weather (little or no wind) was with us on September 14. Please participate in your neighborhood Emergency Response Programs (we have an extensive one at Bel Air Crest), if you don’t have one, I strongly suggest that you start one in your neighborhood. They are telling us that in the event of a major disaster such as a major earthquake, we all need to be able to take care of ourselves for 3 -4 days before we can expect to receive any help from public services such as the fire department. There are wonderful resources available to all of us to get training and supplies and the LAPD and LAFD will be more than happy to support your efforts. Give a big thanks to the LAFD….next time you see a fireman, say “hello” and thank them for their tireless efforts. They ‘do save the day’.

Carmageddon is gone but not forgotten —

Bel Air Crest is now making a habit of it, in fact we turn our Club House into“Camp Carmageddon” for the LAFD during this busy weekend.. It was so popular among the workers last year,that they had to have a raffle to see who would be eligible to stay there this year. — hosting the LAFD for this two-day ‘festival of no cars’ — during the closure of the 405. They use our Club House and we provide a comfortable place to sleep, eat and even get some realization by watching movies and playing games. I checked out our club house today, no wonder the LAFD fights to stay in the Bel Air Crest club house, it is totally stocked with all the food, and soft drinks anyone would want!

Coldwell Banker is ‘crusin’....

you don’t have to twist my arm, but I’m going to get up on my soap box and share our success with you: Coldwell Banker Previews had four of the Top 10 US cities with the highest number of home listings priced over $5 million — Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Malibu and Santa Barbara! California accounted for 52% of the cities and zip codes. Beverly Hills was followed by Santa Barbara and Los Angeles with the highest number of luxury homes priced at $10 million and up (from June 2011 through June 2012).