Montara residents alarmed by fire threat from overgrown Caltrans land

Montara residents alarmed by fire threat from overgrown Caltrans land

For 25 years, Larry De Young has lived and raised horses in the coastal town of Montara in San Mateo county. “When we moved in, we thought this was a great place because it was open space,’’ said De Young, a retired biologist. As the years went on, however, that space across a dirt road from his home became dense with non-native trees, including highly flammable eucalypts. The area near his home is part of a 100-acre stretch of land Caltrans bou…