San Francisco, Ca - The Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Fire Department have partnered to urge property owners of vacant lots to keep their land clean and free of fire hazards. The two departments have joined together this fire season to identify areas in the City with a higher level of fire danger due to large areas of vacant land or dried and weeded lots.

In the past two weeks, Public Works and their contractor have cleared out more than five tons of dead weeds, litter and vegetation around San Francisco's Anderson Hill and Bernal Hill to mitigate fire hazards on large expanses of public property and it is now focusing its efforts on smaller private property lots.

The department is using a seldom-used city ordinance called the Blighted Vacant Lot Ordinance which requires property owners to keep their lots free of any accumulation of filth, including garbage, weeds, dead or decaying trees, furniture/appliances, and toxic or otherwise hazardous liquids or materials.

In San Francisco, the most prevalent issues on vacant lots are dried and overgrown weeds, litter and illegal dumping. To date, DPW staff has posted 41 properties as part of the increased effort to rid San Francisco neighborhoods of this type of blight and 37 property owners have complied by clearing their property of litter, dumping and fire-causing dried weeds.

"Our goal is to educate property owners that property, even if it is vacant, is an asset to the community and must be maintained for a variety of reasons, fire safety being the most critical at the moment," said Ed Reiskin, Director of Public Works.

Eight properties received a posting today around Brewster and Joy streets in the City's Bernal Heights neighborhood. Property owners will have 15 days to abate the problem or DPW will clean up the lot and send a bill.

"Overgrown weeds and brush on vacant lots in a dry season are a fire hazard," said Fire Marshal Barbara Schultheis. "Last year, during the week of Fourth of July, the San Francisco Fire Department responded to 84 fires that were caused by grass or trash. Each time we respond to an outside fire, we are using resources that would otherwise be available to respond to medical emergencies in the surrounding area."

DPW worked closely with the San Francisco Fire Department to identify the areas around Bernal Hill and Anderson Hill that have been abated over the last two weeks. The focus on private property is the next step in the process and public works crews will continue to inspect and post problematic areas throughout the year.

"If property owners ignore their legal responsibility in keeping their land clean, their property becomes a liability to those who live in the neighborhood and can sometimes become a fire hazard," said Mohammed Nuru, Deputy Director of Operations for Public Works.

The public may call 311 to report blighted vacant lots in their neighborhood.

The San Francisco Department of Public Works is responsible for the care and maintenance of San Francisco's streets and much of its infrastructure. The department repairs and resurfaces streets, plants and maintains city street trees; designs, constructs and maintains city-owned facilities, conducts sidewalk and roadway inspections, builds curb ramps, provides mechanical and manual street cleaning, removes graffiti from public property, and partners with the diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco to provide stellar cleaning and greening services. With a proposed budget of $184 million (excluding capital projects) and a workforce of approximately 1,400 employees, DPW serves San Francisco residents, merchants and visitors around the clock.

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