| | During the week of November 6, 1961, the City of Los Angeles was visited by the most disastrous brush fire in the history of Southern California. Lashing out from a point of origin high on the north slope of the Santa Monica Mountains, the fire raced through tinder-dry vegetation to the summit, leaped across Mulholland Drive and raged down the south slope into Stone Canyon on a rapidly widening front. Driven savagely before fifty-mile-per-hour winds, the flames sped on south and westward. The canyons and ridges of the coastal slope became engulfed in a veritable hurricane of fire. Thermal air currents, created by the intense heat, coupled with the high velocity winds swirled countless thousands of burning brands aloft to deposit them far in advance of the main fire front. Natural and manmade barriers were utterly incapable of interrupting the progress of the fire under such adverse conditions. Before the wild rush of this roaring destruction was finally subdued, 6,090 acres of valuable watershed had been consumed. Infinitely more tragic was the incineration of 484 costly residences and 21 other buildings. Much has been written about the 1961 fire. The official report of the Los Angeles Fire Department contains more information about the event, how the fire was brought under control, information about the damage sustained, and recommendations for avoiding future such disasters. Other major fires in Los Angeles have been recorded by the LAFD since 1887. For those whose interest in matters dealing with fires and firefighting is even greater, see: http://www.lafire.com/ The Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Society operates a Museum at 1355 N. Cahuenga Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028, (323) 464-2727.
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