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California Burning: Photographs from the Los Angeles Examiner

Banning Fire, 1951

Depicted in this photograph are the ruins of a cherry picking community of 12,000 inhabitants that was in the path of the Banning Fire [1]. Although the exact cause was unknown, the fire started on September 13, 1951 in an empty field, around a half-mile north of the Banning city border, located to the east of Riverside in California. By the end of the first day, the flames had burned through 4,000 acres of brush. Concurrently, a blaze on Mt. San Gorgonio, around twelve miles north of Banning, was wildly shifting with the wind; this would later cause the Banning fire’s dangerous development [2].

As the fire moved south it destroyed a Native American school and a large ranch home near the cherry picking community pictured in this photograph. Five other ranch homes and a pea-packing plant barely escaped incineration [3]. The burned appliances and furniture visible in the photograph are likely remains of these buildings. Based on where the photograph was taken, the unidentified woman was likely either an inhabitant of the ranch home that was victim to the fire or a schoolteacher for the Native American school [4]. By the fifth day the fire was still out of control, covering 10,000 acres and growing with topographical downdrafts [5]. Although it managed to burn a power line which temporarily cut the main city’s water supply, most of the impact on humans was limited to the cherry picking community visible in the image above [6]. The sources do not mention how or when the fire was ultimately put out, only that 600 men were still battling the flames on September 18 [7].

[1] “Brush Fire Sweeps Town: California Blaze Sweeps Homes” The Detroit Free Press, (September 16th, 1951), 1.

[2] “Blaze Sweeps into Banning; One Home Lost, Others in Path: Many Flee New Fire at Resort.” Los Angeles Times, (September 16, 1951), 1.

[3] “Fire Perils Banning City Water Supply: 3000-Volt Power Line Feeding Pumps Menaced by Flames.” Los Angeles Times, (September 17, 1951), 1.

[4] “Brush Fire Sweeps Town: California Blaze Sweeps Homes.” The Detroit Free Press, (September 16, 1951), 1 and “Fire Perils Banning City Water Supply: 3000-Volt Power Line Feeding Pumps Menaced by Flames.” Los Angeles Times, (September 17, 1951), 1.

[5] “Banning Fire Out of Control for Fifth Day.” Los Angeles Times, (September 18, 1951), 1.

[6] “Banning Fire Out of Control for Fifth Day.” Los Angeles Times, (September 18, 1951), 1.

[7] “Banning Fire Out of Control for Fifth Day.” Los Angeles Times, (September 18, 1951), 1.

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3. Brush fire (Rio Hondo fire), 1951 Depicted is a brush fire emerging in Rio Hondo, a tributary of Los Angeles County whose name derives from the 'deep river' - Rio Hondo - that runs parallel to the San Gabriel River. Even as an area of land named after a body of water, fires still manage to ravage the land, and the efforts to mitigate this state of emergency caused no shortage of worry and damage. The fire spread rapidly through the brushes upon it's kindling, burning more than 50 acres of land and damaging two houses within a few hours [1]. The dry climate helped propagate the fire and spread embers to rooftops where the smoldering did most of its damage [5]. While the fire fortunately maintained itself within the riverbed [4], it didn't make the lives of the Los Angeles Fire Department easy. They had to storm together a 10 unit battalion that aggregated teams from Whitter and the State Department of Forestry to contain the flame. Shown in the image is the efforts of the fire department mobilizing to eliminate the flame. To that end they were able to shut down the fire in two hours, even deploying tractors with dozer blades in order to eliminate the immediate presence of fuel. While the nature of the fire was calmed quickly, quantifiable amounts of damage were done to the surroundings, and fire fighters were dispatched throughout the night to ensure embers didn't form again [1]. Fires like these continued to strike the area, and in 2005, volunteers and Angeles Chapter Staff came together to form a campaign called the Emerald Necklace which aims to plant trees and brushes that reinstate the park experience that perhaps once existed in the area [6].
4. Chatsworth Brush Fires, 1957
14. Warner Brothers Studio Fire (Burbank), 1952

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Banning Fire, 1951