SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The towering eucalyptus trees lining Pomerado Road are a defining feature of Scripps Ranch — one that drew Craig and Linda Jones to the neighborhood 40 years ago.
"People love driving into Scripps Ranch. There's one lane on both sides. It's absolutely beautiful," Linda said.
But after living through the Cedar Fire in 2003, Linda says those same trees now bring anxiety.
"The beauty doesn't really exist anymore because you can't help driving through it and thinking, Oh my God, this can burn down our whole neighborhood," she said.
Linda said she and her neighbors are worried about dry brush and dead branches piling up on the side of Pomerado Road.
This past August, her home and much of the area were placed in San Diego's High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Her home insurance tripled; she can't get fire insurance and now relies on the FAIR Plan.
She says she's doing everything to protect her home, but worries the biggest threat may be just beyond her backyard.
"You can't live here and drive into Scripps Ranch and say to yourself, 'Why isn't anybody doing anything about all of that dead wood? Why isn't that being cleared and whose responsibility is it?'" Linda said.
She reached out to ABC 10News asking for answers, and I took her questions straight to the city.
The city responded Thursday, and the big takeaway: It's complicated.
The trees sit on a mix of city, private and state-owned property. The city says it evaluates the trees every two to three years. The corridor along Pomerado Road is scheduled for another evaluation in the next few months.
The city also said it has pruned or removed more than 600 trees in the area over the past 5 years, and that it is restricted from doing maintenance during certain times of year under state and federal environmental protections.
Linda said the city's timeline isn't good enough.
"The fact that they review every two to three years is outrageous to me," Linda said. "If we're going to be at the top of the list for risk danger, somebody needs to take a hard look at all those trees every, I don't know, six months, nine months, but certainly within every year".
Craig and Linda say they also want to see a coordinated effort from the city, state and private entities to make sure the corridor is fully maintained.
The city is encouraging everyone to report fire hazards through the Get It Done app or the San Diego Fire-Rescue's Citizen Complaint Inspection Program.
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