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California Burning: Photographs from the Los Angeles Examiner

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].

Depicted is a brush fire emerging in the region around Rio Hondo, a tributary in Los Angeles County whose name derives from the Spanish for ‘deep river’. The photo was taken in 1951, and it likely originates from one of two fires that broke out in that area over the summer.

The first candidate was a fire that broke out on June 27. This fire lasted two hours and burned down 50 acres of land that included residential sections.[1] Teams from Los Angeles County, the neighboring city of Whittier, and the State Department of Forestry were called to control the flame by clearing nearby fuels and digging a fire break. Assisting the teams were tractors with dozer blades, a sheet of bent metal that extends the width of the tractor. These were used to clear nearby fuels and dig a fire break to prevent the fire from advancing. Concerns that fire embers would rekindle flames overnight prompted the fire department to patrol the area. The Los Angeles Times did not report the source of the ignition or an estimate of the damages.

The other fire began about a month later, on July 20. According to the Los Angeles Times, this fire raged through 20 acres of brush and burned holes on rooftops of neighboring houses.[2] The fire department surmised that the fire began near the Rio Hondo and propagated through nearby dry grass and brush covering.[3] In every report of the fire, the dry weather was cited as a compounding factor. [4, 5] The fire appeared to be under control within a day.

[1] “BRUSH FIRE STEMMED IN WHITTIER HEIGHTS,” Los Angeles Times (June 27, 1951), 1

[2] “Raging Rio Hondo Fire Perils El Monte Homes,” Los Angeles Times (July 20, 1951), 2

[3] “Dry River Burns,” The Nashville Tennessean (July 21, 1951), 3

[4] “Riverbed Catches Afire,” The Baltimore Sun (July 21, 1951), 9

[5] “Dry River Burns,” The Nashville Tennessean (July 21, 1951), 3

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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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