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California Burning: Photographs from the Los Angeles Examiner

Saugus Fire, 1951

This photograph depicts a group of people, likely a family or set of families, gazing from afar as the raging flames of the Saugus Fire tear through a nearby mountain range. The Saugus Fire began in the early afternoon of August 25, 1951, and torched the Angeles National Forest in Lake Hughes, California, roughly 60 miles from Los Angeles[1]. The fire started by the negligent tossing of a lit cigarette[2]. On the first night, 200 firefighters battled the flames and established multiple fire lines around the outer area of the fire’s coverage. However, dry, heavy winds, reaching up to 30 miles per hour, quickly drove the fire out of control. While trying to decrease the spread, three firefighters suffered painful injuries, one of whom sustained multiple second-degree burns[3]. Furthermore, a lookout station, a helicopter, and a pickup truck carrying a 150-gallon drum of gasoline all burned in response to the flames, helping to increase the fuel supply for the fire’s spread. At its peak, more than 500 firefighters battled the extreme conditions. Despite this, the fire raged over four days, stretching 22 miles in length and burning roughly 10,000 acres[4]. The fire endangered over 200 homes and a large resort in the Lake Hughes area; luckily, the fire halted approximately a mile and a half short of the region before any mass evacuation efforts[5]. Finally, on August 29, natural rainfall extinguished the last of the flames, potentially saving millions of dollars’ worth of damage in the Lake Hughes area[6].

[1] “200 Men Battle 1000-Acre Fire Near Saugus” Los Angeles Times (26 Aug 1951), 1.

[2] “7 HURT FIGHTING FOREST FIRES IN CALIFORNIA” Chicago Daily Tribune (28 Aug 1951), 1.

[3] “RESORT AREA FIRE RAGES: Flames on Wide Front Unchecked” Los Angeles Times (Aug 27, 1951), 1.

[4] “Fire Roars Over Mountains in California Forest Preserve” New York Herald Tribune (Aug 28, 1951), 1.

[5] “Canyon Brush Fire Almost Under Control” Los Angeles Times (28 Aug 1951), 1.

[6] “Siskiyou Fire Raging Out of Control” Los Angeles Times (30 Aug 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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Saugus Fire, 1951