Wildlife Waystation Ordered Shut Again for Alleged Fire Violations

The Wildlife Waystation in Sunland-Tujunga, shut down for eight months last year during disputes with regulators, has been ordered closed to the public again for alleged fire code violations.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department has ordered the 120-acre facility to halt tours and educational programs, and to stop taking in animals.

Fire inspectors also directed the celebrity-supported camp to move 29 lions from hillside cages.

Wildlife Waystation Director Martine Colette said Monday that the Fire Department demanded that she quickly install a 700,000-gallon water tank on the Angeles National Forest property.

She said the department’s order to relocate the lions within 24 hours “was just more of the unreasonableness we endured last year.”

Colette added that she intends to comply with the Fire Department’s order and reopen.

The Fire Department order said the hillside beneath the lion cages was in danger of collapsing, and that the facility had failed to cut back brush and maintain a water reserve. Officials did not provide further details.

Officials of the state Department of Fish and Game closed the facility in April of last year, saying it did not meet environmental and animal caging standards.

The county Fire Department and the district attorney’s environmental crimes unit also filed claims against the facility.