After the catastrophic fires in January 2025 that burned down over 6,500 structures in Pacific Palisades (and over 9,400 in the Eaton Fire), I restrained my photographic urges and did not run to shoot images of someone else’s loss.
Today, I reasoned that photographing the ongoing rebuilding in the Palisades was not immoral or exploitative, only documentary.
It was a cool, foggy Sunday morning with almost no traffic along the 700 Block of North Hartzell St, just off Sunset. I could stand in the middle of the road without fear.
Around me was a vast emptiness of empty lots, but with quite a few houses under construction, not only on Hartzell, but on nearby streets like Drummond, Carey, and Calloway. You could see through to many streets beyond the one you were standing on, looking at lumber boards on joists hundreds of yards away, just as if you had gone back 100 years to the very birth of Pacific Palisades.
Though there were no people, only a few construction workers hammering and drilling, the presence of the law was everywhere. There were signs against trespassing, US Army Corps of Engineers “California Wildfires Response Debris Removal Support,” NOT FOR SALE, PROTECT THE PALISADES, “This Home Will Rise Again,” #palistrong, Palisades Patrol. I felt the security presence of cameras, cops and Mr. Rick Caruso.
Everywhere there were signs for construction companies, architects, interior designers, garden designers, and realtors. Everyone with a skill to sell had a sign to show.
American flags were planted in soil like a Veteran’s Day cemetery. United in mourning, resolved in moving forward, the spirit of the Palisades shined. Or perhaps it was the spirit baptized in buckets of insurance money.
On all the blocks I walked today the metal street signs on posts survived. No burn marks, no damage, nothing but white letters on dark blue metal.
How could the fires incinerate automobiles, trucks, refrigerators, washing machines, and hot water heaters? But somehow leave the proper names of the avenues, drives and roads intact? It is one of God’s strangest mysteries, perhaps she knows better than us the value of these named lots.
Further west on Bollinger Drive were some burned up vehicles with a big white house across the street. Every other house was consumed, and the lots everywhere were cleared, save for some with front door steps leading up to the sky; empty driveways, brick chimneys in fields, and sediment logs along the edges of lots to trap debris before it clogged drainage systems.
Walking in districts obliterated by now extinguished flames is a ghostly privilege of survivors. The living can never know the whole truth of what this was before. I hope I was respectful to those who lost everything. I am in no position to know their pain.
And now that the new houses are coming up, who knows what they will endure in the coming years, and even if the American nation and government that they are born into will endure and survive an epoch which seems more horrific each passing day.
When you have a house that is classical, symmetrical, ordered; architecturally many different styles can fit inside the geometry of the facade.
Architects knew this up until the Second World War. Old neighborhoods in Pasadena, Hancock Park, and many survivors in the West Adams, Hollywood and even Beverly Hills districts carry an eclectic and imaginative grouping of ingredients: Italian, Moroccan, Spanish, French, English, etc.
The gruesome invasion of oversized boxes without any balance, proportions or beauty is an ugly fact of life in modern Los Angeles. These atrocities pop up everywhere, and whole sections of once charming Studio City are now shoulder to shoulder, oversized, white Cape Cods or oversized white coke dealer McMansions. The last type always has a flat roof for parties that never happen and enormous rooms with egregiously visible wine galleries for sober owners, multiple flat screen TVs and no books for their Ivy League educated residents.
It’s probably fantasy to imagine that wealthy people will read this blog and see the lovely houses below and decide to build in this style in Pacific Palisades.
But maybe (in the vein of wishful thinking) the ten wealthiest Angelenos can get together and fund the construction of Neo-Classical houses in Altadena. 1,000 of these would cost $100,000,000 and would also be a welcome addition for the next 100 years.
Ok guys, how about it?
Patrick Soon-Shiong ($20.4 billion), Sean Parker ($16.9 billion), David Geffen ($14.2 billion), John Tu ($11.1 billion), Edythe Broad ($9.2 billion), Edward Roski Jr. ($8.7 billion), Steven Udvar-Hazy ($6.8 billion), Bobby Murphy ($7.9 billion), Stewart Resnick ($7.2 billion), and Evan Spiegel ($6.7 billion). (source: LA Business Journal)
It’s not likely that we will live to see Pacific Palisades or Altadena constructed in a way that evokes the traditional styles that were wiped out in January’s fires.
There is first the economics of the disaster. Many people will never have enough money to rebuild their homes. Some bought them many years ago, some inherited them. They had lower property taxes whose rates are based on what the original purchase price was.
For some, it was affordable to live in a paid-off home with grandfathered low taxes, next to the Pacific. That accident of time and fortune is gone forever.
The crisis in insuring homes, the cost of materials, the fragility of the economy, the flight of good paying jobs in entertainment, all of it has added up to a disaster that will be hard to climb out of.
There is also the problem of zoning. Where multi-family houses could be built, the powerful will step in (especially in Pacific Palisades) to mandate that every home be single family. And that will invite everyone to construct the ugly, laboratory like boxes that have proliferated on small lots around Southern California in the last 15 years. White, with black windows, unused balconies for joyous parties that never transpire. And security fencing, SUVs and artificial turf.
In Altadena, the destruction is tragic for other reasons. This was a neighborhood amenable to Black residents, and a place where multi-generational households built up wealth and security which was often difficult to obtain when your parents and grandparents were restricted from owning homes in other locations.
The integration of Altadena, the artistry of the homes, the beauty of the setting in the mountains, with many trees, old gardens, and the viability of churches, schools, and craftspeople with unique creations, was stamped upon this town.
Driving yesterday afternoon in 98 degree heat, through the dusty, hot, burned out districts of Altadena, we saw the vast ruins, but also the armies of trucks and workers hauling away the debris, towing away stacks of burned up vehicles, and the neat signs from the government on newly bulldozed and graded empty lots pronouncing them “clean.”
Architecturally, what will Altadena look like in the next ten or twenty years? Will there be a plan to rebuild in a harmonious and humane way, the method that Santa Barbara used after the 1925 earthquake?
“Before the earthquake, a considerable part of the center was built in the Moorish Revival style. After the earthquake, the decision was made to rebuild it in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. This effort was undertaken by the Santa Barbara Community Arts Association, which was founded in the beginning of the 1920s and viewed the earthquake as the opportunity to rebuild the city center in the unified architectural style.”-Wikipedia
Who will protect the Black history and the Black future of Altadena, an ingredient of the larger program of reconstruction that must proceed without killing off that which made Altadena a shining exception?
I’m fairly certain that Pacific Palisades will rebuild faster than Altadena. There is always governmental assistance for the most privileged.
The atrocity of public vagrancy, however, will continue to be pervasive under the current mayoral regime. Here passivity and resignation in the midst of homelessness is considered a virtue in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Mayor Karen Bass has allowed, like her predecessor, the proliferation of trash camping, and is now looking forward, obscenely, to the 2028 Olympics which will place the gruesomeness of Los Angeles in a Potemkin village face lift. She never misses a photo opportunity to speak in her melodious, soothing, sweet, dulcet tones, imploring patience, incrementalism and understanding as 1 building permit a month is approved and 5,900 are in limbo.
Mayor Bass, Billionaire Rick Caruso, Hairdresser Gavin Newsom, are all eager to showcase the vast wealth, power, glamour and celebrity of the city to aid in the reconstruction of the western district of LA. Newsom even stepped up today to actually use the law to remove the trash camps around California. After billions of dollars, the patience of the governor has worn thin, and he has decided it is not a good image for the state to host burning trash fires along the freeways.
But what will the end results of the new post-fire houses look like? Will we once again have to endure architectural experimentation in the cheap, novel, grotesque, ostentatious style that pervades every corner of the region? Will the crumpled up, aluminum foil design of Gehry be our model for the city of the future? Perhaps not, as architects are often not even present in the construction of new houses. Only the general contractor in his pickup truck with his aesthetic refinements.
Will the oppressive sterility of the white box triumph? Or can we have the kind of California dream Will Rogers built? Can we have a piece of gentleness and civilized loveliness please? Or does everything that is built have to be the choice of the sports stadiums, the shopping center developer, the studio honchos? If that is the only way forward, then California is dead; spiritually, culturally, ethically, and economically.
Will Rogers State Park, July 2024. Destroyed January 7, 2025.
Perhaps the old way of seeing, the classical way of designing, the architecture of pre-modernist California, could help heal the disfigurement of the Golden State.
Imagine if you found these types of houses in the rebuilt lots of the fire zones? Could you fall in love with California all over again?
As front liners, on foot or flying aircraft, are still fighting the worst fires in Los Angeles history, it is instructive to see that this is the inheritance of living in this region.
In late December 1956, Malibu was ablaze. Many homes were lost. The same aspects we witness today applied: heroism, narrow escapes, families in terror, and brutal conditions of fire fighting.
Though the vast majority of people who lost homes were obscure middle class people, the headlines then, as now, announced celebrities who also suffered property destruction.
“Ralph Edwards, TV personality, loses $75,000 beachfront home!”
In 1956, one helicopter was in service, and after the fire, more were purchased. The militarization of fighting fires, and the use of the most advanced technology and highly trained professionals became the norm.
Here are some photos with their original captions found in the archives of the Los Angeles Public Library:
Photograph dated December 26, 1956 shows debris from an unknown structure after the fast-moving mountain blaze burned through the Paradise Cove area in Malibu.
“This is view of fire taken from top of Escondido Canyon looking toward ocean. Shortly after picture was snapped, flames and smoke rolled down beach burning expensive waterside homes at Paradise Cove and Escondido Beach. Today, flames are moving north and threaten to jump Mulholland Highway near Lake Malibu. Army of men and mechanized equipment are massed on this highway in an effort to halt advance of flames over Santa Monica Mountains into plush lake resort area.”
“Volunteer American Red Cross nurse pulls covers up over one sleeping youngster brought into Webster School which was set up as disaster station shortly after flames began threatening resort area near Malibu Beach. Flames forced more than 1,000 persons to flee for their lives. Evacuees with only clothes on their backs beat a path to school door to receive lodging and food for night. Fire officials today fear that school will also be evacuated as flames loomed overhead near Malibu Canyon road.”
Dennis Szigeti looks dazedly at all belongings he managed to salvage from home before it burned to ground in Latigo Canyon drive. All six of Szigeti’s children were evacuated from home before it was consumed. Szigeti family was luckier than some which had to get out without time to save any of household belongings.” The article partially reads, “The catastrophic fire which continued to race wildly out of control through the Malibu mountains today threatened to leap over Mulholland Highway near Malibu Lake and burn into the western end of the San Fernando Valley above Calabasas. The fire has already jumped Mulholland Highway at Decker Canyon and advanced west into Ventura County toward the exclusive Lake Sherwood area.”
“Helmeted John Durbin, 20, volunteer fireman from nearby Thousand Oaks, carries patio chair from plush $32,500 Lake Sherwood home of Mrs. Jean Robison. Flames fueled by escaping butane gas burned all night. Hoover home was across road and was first hit by blaze as flames moved inland from Triunfo Ranch, one-quarter mile south of Ventura boulevard near Thousand Oaks.”
“Mrs. Charles Clarke, 5903 Ramirez Canyon, holds her son Billy, 1, closely as she looks up blackened canyon from Paradise Cove. She, like hundreds of others, became refugee as brush fire inferno swallowed up more than 20,000 acres near beach area. Her husband brought family to safety and went back to try to save home with help of firemen.” The article partially reads, “The catastrophic fire which continued to race wildly out of control through the Malibu mountains today threatened to leap over Mulholland Highway near Malibu Lake and burn into the western end of the San Fernando Valley above Calabasas. The fire has already jumped Mulholland Highway at Decker Canyon and advanced west into Ventura County toward the exclusive Lake Sherwood area.”
“The Malibu fire of December 27, 1956, apparently started on Backus Summit, inland from Zuma Beach. It destroyed 35 homes, killed one person, and injured thirty-three others – both firemen and civilians. Flames shot high enough to be seen from miles away, and the heat was so intense that rocks exploded, and embers and sparks showered down out of the hills across Pacific Coast Highway. Several of the homes destroyed were those of Hollywood personalities, including television’s Ralph Edwards. The Malibu fire was described as the worst Los Angeles County fire since 1938.”
NY Times Dec. 26, 1956.
“Fire houses, etc. near Malibu Mountains Inn, Latigo Canyon Rd and Ocean View Drive, at head of Latigo & Ramirez Canyons.”
2. “Groups of evacuees from S. Rambla Orieta (?) — Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hyatt, left, & Mr. & Mrs. A.W. Rebard, & family”.
3. “Mrs. Joe Stephens Sr., right, and Red Cross nurse Mrs. Ralph Peterson, left, support Mrs. Nellie Stephens as they carry her to bed in Webster School disaster center. She and other members of family left home at 20641 Malibu Rd. as blaze came dangerously close.”
4. December 29, 1956 reads: “Skeleton is all that remains of lakeside home belonging to Roy Hoover in Lake Sherwood fire which raced through community. More than 3,000 acres have been reported burned in this area alone. House at time of blaze was occupied by Jack Jones Jr., his wife and their three sons. They all fled to safety. Two firemen suffered injuries while fighting for lake homes.”
5. “Reporter examines burned-out fire chief’s car”.
The first job I had in Los Angeles was working at Barley Corn Entertainment, a small documentary production company in Valley Village.
It was the summer of 1994. OJ had just not killed his ex-wife and the young waiter who was returning her sunglasses. I was living in Studio City for $400 a month, and the new job as a PA paid $450 a week.
The woman who hired me, Lisa, was in her mid 30s, married to one of the owners, Sean. She was green eyed, tall, broad shouldered and drove a dark green Range Rover from her home in Pacific Palisades.
She brought along a little white Pomeranian dog to the office every day, a novelty to me, being from the Middle West and the East Coast where dogs were large and stayed at home.
Lisa was a line producer, a job she mastered in daily calm, always even tempered, even when she got cross. She commanded runs and released funds, met with producers, writers, editors, and researchers, and still had time to walk across the street to Gelsons for a cup of coffee and a large spinach salad. Her day ended at 5 or 6, and she would go down to the parking garage and drive an hour back to her enchanted life on Enchanted Way in Pacific Palisades.
There was a Christmas party at their home in 1994. I arrived at the 1960s ranch house, built on a terraced lot, like every other house, little plots of splendor overlooking the Pacific, lots along a hilly street stacked and placed like many dinner plates on the arms of a hash house waitress.
We were all young and in awe at the $600,000 home with sliding glass windows that opened to a small patio that overlooked the mist and the ocean.
I drank a lot, and Lisa forbade me to drive home.
I went to bed on the white sectional in the living room, and awoke under a baby blue cashmere throw with a headache. Lisa made coffee, and then Sean invited me to leave “when it was convenient.”
Lisa and Sean, Sean and Lisa, Pacific Palisades. Range Rovers, small dogs, lovely houses that always sat in the temperature range of 58-68 degrees.
My co-worker, Julie, was the daughter of two negligent Marin County hippies and had gone to live with her maiden aunt in Santa Monica during high school. She adored Lisa and Sean and hoped that one day she too would live in Pacific Palisades, perhaps leveraging her BA from UCLA and weekly production check to buy a house on Enchanted Way.
A few years later Julie met Aaron, a wealthy man who lived on Lachman Lane in the Palisades. She moved into his house, and they made plans to marry. I went to their house, sat by the pool, and talked with Julie about a reality show idea we never produced.
Aaron wanted Julie to sign a prenuptial agreement before marriage. Julie asked her friends what they thought, and the consensus was “he doesn’t really love you.” They broke up and Aaron married someone else, a compliant wife who signed an agreement, and they may have lived happily ever after.
Julie met a hard drinking Missouri man on a production shoot in Wisconsin, married him, had a baby girl, moved to Kansas City, got divorced after a year, and spent the next 15 years in Missouri pining for the lifestyle she lost. She and her teen daughter moved back to the aunt’s condo in Santa Monica last year.
Kevin, circa 1995, was a producer at Barley Corn, a year older than me, married to Cori, and they lived in a house in Pacific Palisades.
He looked like a young Dick Nixon, was kind of a dick swinger at times, bragging about his $400,000 house bought with the wife’s parental endowment.
I hadn’t seen him in 28 years, but there was a reunion of Barley Corn folks last summer. I asked him about his house, his $400,000 house.
“It ain’t $400,000 anymore! We sold it and bought a much larger place near the village in Pacific Palisades!”
In the 1990s I also took a comedy writing class at the home of Bill Idelson on Brooktree Lane in Rustic Canyon.
It was a mid 1950s wood house in a redwood grove next to a creek. It was designed by Mario Corbett and photographed by Julius Shulman. (his photo below).
Idelson, an actor, also had a successful career penning sitcoms, and he had a formula, much of which I forgot, except for his drawing of a man and a moon. “How he gets to the moon is your story!” he said.
We would sit on the patio next to the creek, and with the sounds of water and nature, get instructed.
Idelson had a grown son, a handsome, athletic blond guy who said he would ride the creek during rains in his raft straight down to the ocean.
That was Pacific Palisades: the successful sitcom, the gorgeous house, the beautiful surroundings, the happy-go-lucky son who rode the rain water for fun.
Pacific Palisades does things to people who live there and people who don’t.
For those of us who only live there vicariously, it is sprinkled with celebrities, hiking trails, valet parking, croissants, gourmet coffees and cheeses, blond boys in collared shirts, hot yoga, scented candles, soccer matches, Will Rogers, polo ponies, Eucalyptus trees, gardeners and caterers, brand new big white houses with black windows and electric steel gates, and smooth faced women in sunglasses driving large SUVs 60 miles an hour down Sunset on their way to Lululemon. There is never smog, heat, homelessness or obesity. The maids commute two hours to clean 10,000 square foot houses that are empty because their owners live in New York City.
It was, until a few days ago, something you venerated and worshipped, like Harvard University (before October 7, 2023), Berkshire Hathaway, or inheriting ten acres of land atop Mulholland. If only you had that Ivy League degree, or ten $677,000 Berkshire Hathaway shares, or lived on El Medio Avenue so you could walk to the Temescal Canyon Trailhead. You might someday hit it big, marry that blonde girl, date the personal trainer stepson of that HBO celebrity with a lot of fame and money, sell that show, invent that software sold for millions to Meta, or become a partner of that law firm in Century City, if only you had one of these or that you could be the happiest person on Earth and live in Pacific Palisades.
Since I moved to LA in 1994, there was always a sense to me that people migrated to places rather than improve the ones they lived in. They sometimes did this by changing names, from North Hollywood to Valley Village, or Valley Glen; or converting West Van Nuys into Lake Balboa.
To this day, Los Angeles, for miles and miles, is neglected, filthy, violent. It has no nice parks, hardly any real neighborhoods to walk around. It costs a fortune to live here, to rent or buy is oppressive. People sleep in tents, or on bus benches, they rob stores, and start fires because they are so lost and miserable.
Seemingly not so in Pacific Palisades. Charming, safe, family friendly, delightful. Nothing catastrophic or out of control. The powers that be lived here and kept it well-tuned and well-functioning. Until January 7, 2025.
Once in a generation weather. Except it happens around the globe every week in different horror scenes. One month it’s Lahaina, the next month it’s Greece, Spain, Western Canada.
But Pacific Palisades? Our Pacific Palisades? Where we go for hikes, where my nephew goes to school, where my gentle, wine sipping bosses lived, where I brought my parents to Rustic Canyon so they could see “the real California?”
We kid ourselves thinking our good luck is our own doing, that we may escape losing our health or our home. We really do live by the whims of fate.
There is one migration that seems innocent, but it is, in a sense malignant, many people of means seeking to escape the bad air hellhole of greater Los Angeles, and it leads to Sunset at PCH where there is no more land, paradise promised at the end of the continent.
Now it is temporarily destroyed.
Thank God for those who have survived. Life matters most.
We have seen these fierce wind driven fires and their atomic destruction.
How one small spark can end one era and perhaps usher in another one that may be more humane and sustainable.
2018 fire in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, Lake Balboa, CA.
Project 2028: The Olympic Games in Los Angeles
“In its biggest decision on homelessness in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. The justices, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, overturned lower court rulings that deemed it cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment to punish people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go.”- NPR June 28, 2004
Mayor Karen Bass immediately criticized the Supreme Court decision and said Los Angeles will not “go backwards” [slogan of the campaign] in arresting vagrants. Nearly $1 billion dollars is allocated for citywide homeless reduction programs.
On August 11, 2024 the city of Paris officially handed off the Olympics to the next host city, Los Angeles, CA which will have the honor in 2028.
Along one area of Hollywood Boulevard, sidewalks which had dozens of homeless tents in early August were suddenly cleared of all tents on August 11, 2024.
The solution for homelessness in Los Angeles must be tied to the Olympics. We must find a way to host the Olympics every four years for the next two hundred years.
A few times a week, homeless encampment fires burn in the Sepulveda Basin near the area of the 405 Freeway, Burbank, Woodley and Victory Blvds.
In 2028, some Olympic events will be held in the ravaged, trash filled park. (cough, cough).
Here is a report excerpted from the Los Angeles Fire Department:
CONTAINED – Grass Fire; INC#0254; 07:00AM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; 20 LAFD ground-based Firefighters took less than three hours to fully contain the fire to twenty (20 ) acres of light grass north of Burbank Boulevard and west of the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. No infra/structure damage. No injury. Fire cause under investigation. ; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 E288 E39 E88 RA39 T88 WT88; CH8; 17; Brian Humphrey
Update #BurbankFire Brush Fire; INC#0826; 02:35PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; 69 LAFD Firefighters have stopped all forward progress of the fire via largely defensive firefighting operations by ground and air, with the fire held at 75 (Seventy-Five) acres of vegetation northwest of the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and Woodley Avenue in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. No infra/structure damage. No injuries. #LATraffic: All traffic lanes (northbound and southbound) on Woodley Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Victory Boulevard will remain closed until LAFD operations are complete. Unknown ETO. Travelers, please avoid the area by use of an alternate route.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 CE59 CM40 CM42 DZ41 DZ45 E100 E105 E239 E288 E290 E39 E73 E83 E88 E90 EM14 H0D H3 H4 H5 H6 HA3 HA4 HA5 HA6 HE2 RA39 T39 T88 T90 WT88; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
Brush Fire; INC#0826; 12:50PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; PRELIM: LAFD ground and air response to currently five (5) acres of vegetation burning near the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and Woodley Avenue in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. Slow rate of spread. No current infra/structure threat. As a precaution, the ‘Apollo 11 Model Aircraft Field’ was calmly evacuated. No injuries reported. #LATraffic: Closure of all traffic lanes (northbound and southbound) on Woodley Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Victory Boulevard until LAFD operations are complete. Unknown ETO. Travelers, expect congestion and use an alternate route; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 BC14 E100 E239 E288 E290 E39 E83 E88 E90 EM14 H3 H5 H6 HA3 HA5 HA6 RA39 T39 T88 T90 WT88 + Park Rangers.; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
CONTAINED Grass Fire; INC#0779; 12:54PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; It took 34 firefighters just over an hour to extinguish the three-acre grass fire using hand tools, hose lines, LAFD Dozers, and water tender. No reported injuries. Cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 CE84 DZ45 E100 E288 E39 E83 E88 HE1 HE5 RA100 T88 WT88; CH8; 18; Nicholas Prange
Grass Fire; INC#0779; 11:47AM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; Firefighters are on scene of a grass fire, approximately two acres in size.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 DZ45 E100 E288 E39 E83 E88 HE1 HE5 RA100 T88 WT88; CH8; 18; Nicholas Prange
CONTAINED Brush Fire; INC#1688; 10:00PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; Firefighters made a quick direct attack on the vegetation fire, and snuffed it out at approximately one acre (updated estimate after the flames were out). It took 24 firefighters approximately 25 minutes to extinguish the flames. No reported injuries. Cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 E100 E239 E288 E290 E39 E7 E81 E83 E90 EM14 H0B H0F H3 H4 H5 HA3 HA4 HA5 RA39 T39 T88 T90 WT88; CH8; 18; Nicholas Prange
Grass Fire – Contained; INC#1847; 11:16PM; 5600 N Woodley Av; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; Firefighters have successfully surrounded and extinguished approximately two acres of brush in the Sepulveda Basin. Originally burning as two separate small fires, careful coordination allowed them to merge before crews flanked and extinguished all remaining flames; several fire companies remain at the scene to address hot spots and ensure no further threat remains. No injuries, cause is under investigation. Nothing further.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 E288 E39 E88 E90 H6 HA6 RA88 T88 WT88; CH8; 17; Lyndsey Lantz
Fully Contained – Brush Fire; INC#1388; 07:45PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; This wildland blaze, known as the “Burbank Fire”, has been fully contained at 2 1/4 (2.25) acres. All LAFD helicopters have been released, and ground-based LAFD operations will continue tonight to monitor and fully extinguish any active flame within the perimeter. There has been no infra/structure damage, no evacuation and no injuries. Closure of all traffic lanes (eastbound and westbound) Burbank Boulevard between Woodley Avenue and the 405 Freeway will continue tonight until LAFD operations are complete. Unknown ETO. Travelers are asked to continue to avoid the area, expect congestion and consider an alternate route. The specific cause of the fire has yet to be determined.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 CE83 DZ45 E100 E288 E290 E39 E83 E88 E90 EM17 H3 H4 H6 HA3 HA4 HA6 HE5 RA100 RA83 RA88 T88 T90 WT88; CH8; 17; Brian Humphrey
Update Contained – Brush Fire; INC#1388; 07:20PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; A series of precise LAFD helicopter water drops have contained the perimeter of the (yet to be determined size) blaze in thick underbrush of the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, south of the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and Woodley Avenue. 32 LAFD Firefighters will continue their largely defensive ground-based operations tonight to fully extinguish all active flame within the perimeter. There has been no infra/structure damage, no evacuation and no injuries reported. Closure of all traffic lanes (eastbound and westbound) Burbank Boulevard between Woodley Avenue and the 405 Freeway will continue tonight until LAFD operations are complete. Unknown ETO. Travelers are asked to avoid the area, expect congestion and consider an alternate route. An investigation into the specific cause of the fire will commence upon full fire extinguishment.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 CE83 E100 E288 E290 E39 E83 E88 E90 EM17 H3 H4 H6 HA3 HA4 HA6 RA100 RA83 RA88 T88 T90 WT88; CH8; 17; Brian Humphrey
Brush Fire; INC#1388; 05:44PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3RG8PQg; #SepulvedaBasin; PRELIM: LAFD ground and air response in largely defensive operations to less than one (1) acre of grass burning on the southeast corner of Burbank Boulevard and Woodley Avenue in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. Moderate rate of spread with light winds at 10-15 MPH out of the southwest. No current infra/structure threat. No evacuation. No injuries reported. Closure of all traffic lanes (eastbound and westbound) on Burbank Boulevard between Woodley Avenue and the 405 Freeway until LAFD operations are complete. Unknown ETO. Travelers, expect congestion and consider an alternate route.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 CE83 E100 E288 E290 E39 E83 E88 E90 EM17 H3 H4 H6 HA3 HA4 HA6 RA83 T88 T90 WT88; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
CONTAINED Brush Fire; INC#1074; 04:51PM; 6100 N Woodley Av; https://bit.ly/3JmOXNT; #SepulvedaBasin; Firefighters responded to the archery range, where a two-acre brush fire burned nearby, stoked by sustained winds. Employees and patrons of the archery range were evacuated temporarily while firefighters went to work to contain the flames. Ultimately, it took 41 firefighters an hour and 19 minutes to contain the vegetation fire to approximately two acres, which consumed grass, brush, and trees. Evacuation has been lifted. No reported injuries. Cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 CM40 CM42 E100 E288 E290 E39 E81 E83 E88 E90 EM14 EM17 H0B H0C H3 H4 H7 HA3 HA4 HA7 RA88 T88 T90 UR88 WT88; CH8; 17; Nicholas Prange
Grass Fire; INC#1074; 03:32PM; 6100 N Woodley Av; https://bit.ly/3JmOXNT; #SepulvedaBasin; Approximately two acres of grass burning with 10 mph winds (gusts 20-30 mph) moving to the southeast (near the archery range).; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 CM40 CM42 E288 E39 E83 E88 T88; CH8; 17; Nicholas Prange
CONTAINED Grass Fire; INC#0499; 10:11AM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3aPmUFx; #SepulvedaBasin; Thirty-two LAFD firefighters (by ground only), plus LAFD Crew 3-A volunteer hand crew, anchored the fire and advanced hose lines around both flanks, while allowing the dam to be a fire break to stop the head of the fire. It took 57 minutes to stop all forward progress, limiting the burned area to two acres. Crews will remain on scene to ensure there are no hot spots or smoldering material remaining in the fire’s footprint. No structures damaged. No reported injuries. Cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 CW3A DT1 DZ45 E288 E39 E8138 E83 E88 HE1 T88 WT88; CH8; 17; Nicholas Prange
CONTAINED Brush Fire; INC#0749; 10:59AM; 6300 N Balboa Bl; https://bit.ly/3tgQyeW; #SepulvedaBasin; Crews held the fire to approximately one-eighth of an acre in less than 30 minutes. No structures damaged. No reported injuries.; FS 100; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC15 BC17 BP99 CM20 CM22 CM40 CM42 E100 E239 E273 E290 E39 E64 E66 E73 E83 E88 E90 E94 EM15 H0B H0C H1 H3 H4 H7 HA1 HA3 HA4 HA7 RA100 SO1 T39 T73 T90 WT88; CH8; 17; Nicholas Prange
Brush Fire; INC#0749; 10:34AM; 6300 N Balboa Bl; https://bit.ly/3tgQyeW; #SepulvedaBasin; Small vegetation fire (approximately 50′ x 100′), slow moving, in the Lake Balboa Park area with no structures threatened. Crews are making good progress, getting hose lines around it, and do not anticipate further spread. ; FS 100; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC15 BC17 BP99 CM20 CM22 CM40 CM42 E100 E239 E273 E290 E39 E64 E66 E73 E83 E88 E90 E94 EM15 H0B H0C H1 H3 H4 H7 HA1 HA3 HA4 HA7 RA100 T39 T73 T90 WT88; CH5; 17; Nicholas Prange
Grass Fire – Contained; INC#1561; 06:40PM; 6066 N Woodley Av; https://bit.ly/3JmOXNT; #SepulvedaBasin; 26 ground based LAFD Firefighters contained the fire to two (2) acres of grass and vegetation (7:06 PM) . No structures. No injury. Crews will remain at scene for at least two hours to complete mop up. Fire cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 E100 E288 E83 E88 E90 RA83 RA88 T88 WT88; CH8; 13; Brian Humphrey
Knockdown – Brush Fire; INC#1297; 06:04PM; 5600 N Woodley Av; https://bit.ly/3JTkDLa; #SepulvedaBasin; Despite hot weather and a steady 7 mph wind from the south, a well-coordinated LAFD ground and air response with the assistance of Park Rangers, held flames to three (3) acres of grass and brush on the west side of Woodley Avenue north of Burbank Boulevard. No injury. No structures. Fire cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 E100 E239 E288 E290 E39 E81 E83 E88 E90 EM14 H2 H4 H7 HA2 HA4 HA7 RA88 RA90 T39 T88 T90 WT88 + Park Rangers; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
Brush Fire; INC#1297; 05:15PM; 5600 N Woodley Av; https://bit.ly/3JTkDLa; #SepulvedaBasin; PRELIM: LAFD ground and air response to a grass fire extending into brush on the west side of Woodley Avenue north of Burbank Boulevard. No structure threat.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; AO1 AO2 BC10 BC14 E100 E239 E288 E290 E39 E81 E83 E88 E90 EM14 H2 H4 H7 HA2 HA4 HA7 RA88 RA90 T39 T88 T90 WT88; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
Contained – Brush Fire; INC#1311; 07:18PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3aPmUFx; #SepulvedaBasin; Thanks to precise water drops from a pair of quickly arriving LAFD helicopters, forward progress of the fire/s has been stopped in just 50 minutes. The 40 ground-based LAFD firefighters are finalizing control of the perimeter of the blaze with hand tools and hose lines. No final acreage estimate is available. No injury. No structures damaged. Fire cause under investigation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 BC14 E100 E109 E239 E288 E290 E81 E88 E90 E99 EM14 H1 H2 HA1 HA2 RA83 T39 T88 T90 WT88; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
Brush Fire; INC#1311; 06:28PM; 15700 W Burbank Bl; https://bit.ly/3aPmUFx; #SepulvedaBasin; PRELIM: LAFD ground and air response to several spot fires in volatile light-to-medium density brush south of Burbank Boulevard. No road closure. No structure threat. No evacuation.; FS 88; Batt 10; Valley Bureau; Council District 6; BC10 BC14 E100 E109 E239 E288 E290 E81 E88 E90 E99 EM14 H1 H2 HA1 HA2 RA83 T39 T88 T90 WT88; CH5; 17; Brian Humphrey
Here in Van Nuys 
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