NATIONAL CITY, CALIF. (KGTV) - Neighbors are urging city officials to clear out the rest of a creek bed that recently caught fire.
Roughly an acre burned near an empty lot and creek bed in Paradise Hills in National City on Monday.
No structures were damaged, but neighbors say they expect it to go up again unless the city trims the overgrown trees.
“It's a tinder box,” said Matias Garcia, “under the right condition something will burn down in that's not in that canyon - it'll be a structure.”
National City officials say Paradise Creek is protected by a federal environmental regulation so they only can trim the roughly 3-mile long swath by hand after submitting permits to several government agencies.
National City could not provide the date of when they last cleared out the creek bed.
“It's a warning sign,” said Garcia, “conditions are getting drier and if we can get a nice Santa Ana in here or any heavy wind… Something bad will happen in here.”
