Rain causes muddy mess in Glendora neighborhood

GLENDORA, Calif. (KABC) -- Some residents living near January's devastating Colby Fire woke up to a muddy mess Friday morning after overnight rain.

An hour-long thunderstorm caused a small mudslide to come rushing down the hillsides on the 1100 block of North Easley Canyon Road in Glendora. A crew of 50 people spent most of the day removing mounds of mud that slammed the neighborhood.

"We have about 4 feet of mud up against the back of the house and it is seeping into the house," said Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Short.

Firefighters had a difficult time opening the subdivision's front gate to reach the homes, so they brought in heavy equipment to remove the debris.

West of Easley and further up the hill, crews say more than 10 feet of mud came storming down around 2:30 a.m.

The Colby Fire burned through more than 1,700 acres in the foothills of Glendora and Azusa earlier this year. Without any vegetation to hold the soil in place, the rain washed tons of dirt down the hillside.

Resident Gary Baines pointed to a county-built Crib Basin, full to the brim, saying the county needs to clear it out to keep downhill homes safe.

"If they clear this out of the way, all this mud will avoid going to the city surface streets where they spend a lot of resources," he said.

With the rainy season upon us and the scorched hillsides still recovering, emergency officials say residents may be dealing with more of mudslides for quite some time.