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California Burning: Photographs from the Los Angeles Examiner

San Bernardino Fire, 1956

This photo depicts a plane traveling towards a fire in the San Bernardino mountains. The San Bernardino fire of 1956 started on Friday, September 21 after a military jet plane spiraled and crashed into the San Bernardino mountains shortly after taking off [1]. The fire spread rapidly for a total of five days and burned more than 10,000 acres, in addition to destroying more than 17 homes [2]. Firefighters had difficulty controlling this fire because of the mountain landscape. The fire grew rapidly. On the third day of burning, flames rose to approximately 300 feet high [3]. These flames caused nine firefighters to be injured, with five of them suffering extreme burns [4].

Water-bombing and chemical-dropping planes were ultimately what assisted in putting out the fire. On the fifth day of burning, The Washington Post reported that the fire was 100% contained and no longer spreading. These chemicals created a barrier around the fire that it could not travel past, making it easier for firefighters to fight the flames from the ground [5].

[1] “Planes Help Douse Fire Started by Jet Crash,” The Washington Post and Times Herald (September 26, 1956), 1. “Air Crash Causes Big Forest Fire,” South China Morning Post (September 24, 1956), 1. “Famed Mountain Resort Menaced By ‘Fire Storm’,” South China Morning Post (September 25, 1956), 1. “San Bernardino Forest Fire Rages for Fourth Day,” New York Times (September 25, 1956), 1. “Forest Fire Spreading In California,” The Austin Statesman (September 24, 1956), 2.

[2] “San Bernardino Forest Fire Rages for Fourth Day,” New York Times (September 25, 1956), 1. “Famed Mountain Resort Menaced By ‘Fire Storm’,” South China Morning Post (September 25, 1956), 1.

[3] “Forest Fire Spreading In California,” The Austin Statesman (September 24, 1956), 2.

[4] “Smoke Lifts, Planes Fight Coast Blaze: California Forest Fire Rages On,” New York Herald Tribune (September 25, 1956), 1.

[5]“Planes Help Douse Fire Started by Jet Crash,” The Washington Post and Times Herald (September 26, 1956), 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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