Los Angeles to halt 'disaster tourism' buses through Palisades fire zone

[ad_1] Pacific Palisades neighborhoods had been closed to the general public for months after a January firestorm devastated the neighborhood, however since its latest reopening, there have been sightings of a brand new, disturbing customer within the neighborhood: catastrophe vacationers. Busloads of them.

“My workplace and others have obtained quite a few reviews about business tour operators conducting catastrophe excursions within the Pacific Palisades,” Los Angeles Metropolis Councilmember Traci Park mentioned at a council assembly this week. “They’re seeking to revenue off of destruction and different individuals’s losses. It’s actually gross and it must be stopped.”

In a bid to cease the development from turning into routine at any time when catastrophe strikes the world, the Metropolis Council unanimously authorized proscribing “catastrophe tourism” buses from the Palisades fireplace zone and any catastrophe zone.

On Jan. 7, the Palisades fireplace tore by Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas, destroying greater than 6,000 buildings, a lot of them properties, and leaving 12 individuals lifeless. Though officers vowed to have a speedy restoration, the rebuilding course of for the worst catastrophe within the metropolis’s historical past has been difficult — and sluggish.

Park mentioned the tour buses weren't solely unsettling but additionally probably distracting and dangerous for crews persevering with to work within the space.

“It’s additionally ... harmful as a result of we’re nonetheless actively clearing fireplace particles,” she mentioned.

On account of the vote on Park’s movement, the town’s Division of Transportation will limit tour buses from any space declared a part of a pure catastrophe emergency, and the ban will final by the period of the emergency response.

The movement additionally referred to as on the division to think about everlasting tour bus restrictions in sure areas of the Palisades as soon as the emergency expires, given the Palisades’ slim, winding and steep streets — probably unsuitable for giant buses even earlier than the fireplace.