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California Burning: Photographs from the Los Angeles Examiner

Los Angeles firefighters tending their water pumps during a fire at Third Street and Broadway, ca.1913

This photograph depicts firefighters combating a building fire in Los Angeles with water pumps. Water pumps are used in firefighting to spray water at a high pressures at specific locations [1]. At low pressure, the water will evaporate due to the heat of the fire. Evaporation will cause the water to turn into a gas [2].

In Los Angeles, these pumps were attached to the first fire engines. These engines were drawn by horses and carried 50-gallon tanks of water [3]. The water was treated with a chemical mixture to assist in putting out fires [4]. Around 1910, engines powered by gasoline were used to replace horses, which is the reason there are no horses in this photograph. These engines made it easier for firefighters to be transported quickly. In addition, these engines were also applied to the water pumps, making it possible for the pumps to function [5].

[1] “What is a Fire Pump?,” About Mechanics (October 24, 2022), 1. “Fire Fighting High Pressure Water Pumps,” Absolute Water Pumps (December 31, 2019), 1.

[2] “Water Works for Fire Protection” American Water Works Association (March 1920), 225.

[3] “History of LAFD,” Los Angeles Fire Department (n.d.), 1.

[4] “History of LAFD,” Los Angeles Fire Department (n.d.), 1

[5] “The History of Firefighting,” Merrimack Fire Rescue (n.d.), 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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Los Angeles firefighters tending their water pumps during a fire at Third Street and Broadway