A home fireplace amid stiff winds introduced greater than 100 firefighters onto the slender streets and steep slopes of Laurel Canyon Saturday morning. Firefighters mentioned the three-story home at 8522 West Oak Court docket was closely broken, however the flames didn’t unfold and the blaze was extinguished in somewhat over an hour with no accidents reported.
L.A. Metropolis Fireplace Battalion Chief Nick Ferrari mentioned “it began on a balcony and caught a complete home on fireplace. The wind positively added to its acceleration.”
The primary firefighters arrived by 9:45 a.m. as neighbors watched flames rise 10 to fifteen ft above the roofline, surrounded by bushes bending within the wind. Although the home’s location on a steep slope on the finish of a cul-de-sac posed a problem, the L.A. Fireplace Division incident report mentioned firefighters have been in a position to knock down the hearth in 73 minutes.
Neighbors mentioned the home, a 960-square-foot, three-story residence inbuilt 1961, has its personal minor celeb standing within the space. To achieve the construction, guests needed to climb an extended set of stairs or experience a non-public tram up the slope. The house was owned by radio character and John Lennon publicist Elliot Mintz within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties, then later by Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe (who swam for Australia within the early 2000s). It was featured in Dwell journal when it was provided on the market in 2024.
“I used to be instructed, after I moved in 40 years in the past, that John Lennon was there [often], throughout what was described as his darkish years. My neighbor mentioned John Lennon used to come back out within the morning and pee off the balcony,” mentioned architect Andrew Ratzsch, 68, who lives a couple of doorways down the road.
Cautious of winds on Saturday morning, firefighters responded in pressure.
“We’ve most likely acquired between 20 and 25 items of apparatus right here, counting L.A. County Fireplace,” L.A. Metropolis firefighter Jose Perez mentioned.
Ferrari mentioned firefighters have been paying shut consideration to neighboring constructions and vegetation on the slope, with a “construction protection group” remaining on website to observe areas made susceptible by the wind. The location would stay on “patrol standing by the night time and into the morning,” Ferrari mentioned. The Fireplace Division incident report mentioned that ”crews might be on scene for an prolonged period [conducting] overhaul on any hotspots and monitoring the realm.”
In January 2025, the Palisades fireplace was attributable to a small arson fireplace that was dealt with by firefighters Jan. 1 however rekindled throughout extreme wind situations six days later. The firestorm plowed by the Pacific Palisades and into Malibu, burning 23,400 acres and leveling greater than 6,800 constructions, together with many properties. Twelve folks died.
