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On Tuesday, January 9, 2007 at 11:43 AM, nineteen Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, one LAFD Rescue Ambulance, two Arson Units, two LAFD Helicopters, two LAFD Command Post units, two LAFD Bulldozer Teams, one LAFD Water Tender, two EMS Battalion Captains, five Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, and one Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 117 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel, as well as a Full Brush Assignment from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, all under the direction of Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Donald Austin responded to a Major Emergency Brush Fire adjacent to the Northbound lanes of the 101 Freeway north of Barham Boulevard in the Cahuenga Pass.
Los Angeles Firefighters, at a heightened state of readiness with enhanced staffing due to critical fire weather conditions, arrived quickly to discover one-quarter acre of vegetation burning uphill in grass adjacent to the Hollywood Freeway.
With the close coordination of California Highway Patrol Officers, LAFD responders secured the rightmost lanes of the busy freeway to swiftly anchor the flames and begin working the flanks of the fire as the blaze moved quickly across a frontage road towards the 415-acre Universal Studios complex.
Despite the recent calming of extended Santa Ana winds, and a 'Red Flag' fire weather declaration ending just three hours beforehand, the flames moved rapidly through the light and flashy fuels towards thick brush.
Swift and well-honed efforts by ground crews from the two Departments were aided by aerial reconnaissance and command support from a trio of Los Angeles Fire Department helicopters in holding the fire to little more than two acres and bringing the flames fully under control in just 51 minutes.
No structures, studio workers or theme park patrons were threatened by the fire, which straddled the jurisdictional boundary of the two responding agencies.
There were no injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
(images) (video)
Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department
Firefighters Quickly Tackle Hollywood Freeway Blaze
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 | 
Categories:
Battalion 5,
brush,
Council District 4,
Division 1,
fire,
major emergency
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4 comments:
What is enhanced staffing?
Chris S
Brian,
Great job getting this fire out quickly, with minimal loss. By the looks of the pictures, I would imagine it could have been as bad as the Malibu fire.
In this post, you mentioned a full brush assignemnt from LACoFD. How many members would this be? In he Malibu fire post, you indicated that LAFD sent 22 members. Referencing back to my question about the Long Beach fire last month, my question was more of how many members did LAFD send; not what they were assigned to do.
Thanks again for your blog, and stay safe!
Mark
Portland, OR
Chris:
The 'enhanced staffing' was the presence of additional Engine Companies (from other parts of our City) who had been pre-deployed to the region and added to the assignment pursuant of protocol during critical fire weather conditions.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
Mark
Thanks for patiently awaiting a reply. I regretfully don't have an answer as to exactly what the Los Angeles County Fire Department was sending to this incident, and remain under the belief that not all of what was sent (from a distance) had arrived at the time of extinguishment.
The 22 LAFD members mentioned in the Malibu fire mutual aid deployment were the total of a typical Strike Team assignment (5 Engine Companies and one Chief Officer Command Team).
I regretfully don't have the figures at hand regarding the Long Beach mutual aid deployment, but (as I recall) it was likely less than 50.
Thank you Mark, for your continued interest and support of the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
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