No Mudslides in Tujunga ... Yet

Hundreds of people were still waiting Thursday to see if their homes in Tujunga would stay safe from mudslides. The word from the holdouts who ignored evacuation orders was that so far, so good.

The creek that runs beneath homes in Tujunga's Blanchard Canyon neighborhood has been overflowing to be sure, but late Thursday afternoon, it had done no more damage than flood a popular hiking trail. So far, sandbags, prayers and debris basins have done their job.

Randy Kirkner, one of the holdouts who refused to follow evacuation orders, says he appreciates what public works officials have done.

"Everybody has done a great job," said Kirkner. "They're probably overprotective, but that's better than nothing at all."

The debris basin near Kirkner's home continues to catch mud, tree limbs and the rest of the flow caused largely by last year's Station Wildfire. So far, all of the debris basins in the Sunland-Tujunga area have been holding.  Of course, there is no guarantee that will remain the case.

Kirkner says he's not stupid. He says that he and his dog Haley will leave the moment the creek overflows its banks. But as of Thursday afternoon, that hadn't happened.

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