Fire Crews Hold Grass Fire to 10 Acres in El Sereno

On Friday, May 22, 2009 at 4:57 PM, 16 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 3 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Arson Unit, 3 Helicopters, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 4 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, 2 CERT Coordinators, L.A. County Fire Department, DWP and DOT, under the direction of Assistant Chief Greg West, responded to a Major Emergency Grass Fire at 2580 N. Soto St. in the El Sereno area.

Firefighters were responding to a reported grass fire, when they encountered what appeared to be a minor traffic collision enroute to the incident. The responding Firefighters radioed the information and continued enroute to the grass fire incident, as companies were dispatched to the traffic collision. On arrival, they found 2 acres of grass burning uphill towards homes and apartments located at the hills crest. A full brush assignment with helicopters and additional engines was requested to provide structure protection to the residences.

104 L.A. City Firefighters, with an assist from four L.A. County Fire Department hand crews and helicopter, needed 1 hour and 35 minutes to contain the grass fire to 10 acres. There were no evacuations and no injuries reported. The cause of the fire was determined to be a downed power pole and high tension wires caused by the traffic accident encountered by responding companies enroute to the grass incident. Fire companies will patrol the area to assure no rekindles occur during the night. The El Sereno neighborhood had not experienced a grass or brush fires the previous 2 years. The mustard grass was approximately 5 feet in height in the area.

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Submitted by d'Lisa Davies
Los Angeles Fire Department