Wildfire Preparedness Meeting Held Thursday By Councilwoman Nithya Raman And City Fire Officials

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - With another long and dangerous wildfire season unfolding in the Southland, fire preparedness is top of mind for firefighters and residents.

Councilwoman Nithya Raman, of the 4th District, held a special fire preparedness meeting Thursday night, along with LA City Fire Department officials who spoke about high-fire severity zones like hillside and canyon communities and how technology is being used to warn people and mitigate the fire danger.

Brush clearance and the steps homeowners need to take protect their homes and their neighbors was also talked about.

"We're not in the business to hand out fees," Capt. Bryan Nassour, with LAFD Brush Clearance Division, said during the virtual meeting. "We are in the business of compliance. That's all we want. We just want to make sure people are in compliance and they're safe, not only for themselves, but for their neighbors."

LAFD started home inspections back in May and said that so far some 12,000 homes are failing to meet the required standards.

In addition, fire officials said that evacuation preparedness is important and that signing up for alerts will let people know when it's time get to safety.