LOS ANGELES — California is investing tens of millions of dollars to prevent the next major wildfire in Southern California.
In the wake of January’s destructive fires that burned through Los Angeles neighborhoods, lawmakers approved $170 million in emergency wildfire funding statewide — with $85 million directed to projects in the southern part of the state.
Crews are already on the ground in the Santa Monica Mountains, a fire-prone zone where development meets wildland. There, contractors like Pan-American Brush Clearance are using chainsaws and heavy equipment to widen firebreaks and clear thick vegetation in places like Liberty Canyon, a known wildfire corridor between Calabasas and Agoura Hills…