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On Sunday, July 2, 2006 at 4:24 PM, thirteen Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, seven LAFD Rescue Ambulances, one Arson Unit, one Urban Search and Rescue Unit, one Hazardous Materials Squad, one EMS Battalion Captain, six Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams and one Division Chief Officer Command Team under the direction of Assistant Chief Curtis James responded to a Greater Alarm Structure Fire at 14140 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.
The first Company arrived quickly to discover a large column of heavy smoke showing from the roof of a 150' x 150' three-story modern office building.
A trio of aerial ladders were extended to the roof as Firefighters secured the lobby and stairwells of the structure, making their way briskly up the interior and exterior of the sealed building to find heavy fire burning in and near rooftop air conditioning equipment.
Nearly two-dozen of the 103 Firefighters at scene made coordinated entry into upper floor offices and with tremendous care, pulled the suspended ceiling to check for fire extension, as their colleagues raised several hoselines to the roof to confine the flames.
The stubborn fire was confined to the rooftop and topside equipment and extinguished in just thirty-one minutes. There were no injuries.
Loss from the blaze is estimated at $201,000 ($200,000 structure & $1,000 contents). The cause of this fire remains undetermined.
Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department
Tags: LA, Los Angeles, LAFD, Los Angeles Fire Department
Blaze Stopped Atop Sherman Oaks Office Building
Sunday, July 02, 2006 | 
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4 comments:
Why are these postings listed on the NEWS page? after reading it I wondered why suc\h a massive turnout of personnel and equipment was needed, seems like an overkill, is this a real story?
Mr. Hilton:
Thanks for the note. I'm swamped at the moment (our busiest day so far this year), and hope to get back to you soon.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
I would like to know the answer too.
Mr. Hilton and Anonymous:
Thanks for your patience in awaiting a reply. As you can see from the blog, it's been a busy week at your Los Angeles Fire Department, and I've been on the road.
You asked...
Why are these postings listed on the NEWS page?
I'm not exactly sure what 'News' page you are mentioning, so please let me first offer some semi-technical background.
Along with appearing at our common blog URL that many people choose to visit (lafd.blogspot.com), 'LAFD News & Information' content is syndicated globally.
As such, you may routinely see LAFD content embedded in other sites or listed in such popular directories and search engines as Google News or Topix, which in turn feed many content aggregators, such as MyEarthlink and Firehouse.com
The above mentioned aggregation of our content takes place outside of our direct control. The good news is that many of the aforementioned sites allow you to tailor what appears. As such, you may be able to add or exclude LAFD content or that of other source providers by following a help menu or other directions that appear on the news page of concern.
Knowing that all of what we offer may not be of interest to all readers all the time (much like local newspaper headlines), we strive to offer subject lines that reasonably define our message.
As such, when you come across a story entitled "Young Boy Dies in South Los Angeles Fire", you can choose to click on a link - or not - based on your personal interest or needs at that time.
In addition, many people purposely choose to have LAFD News & Information brought to their computer's start page in real time by such free services as MY Yahoo, My AOL and Google Personal Content.
Again, without your specific mention of the news page you reference, it's difficult for me to offer a more specific explanation as to why you are viewing (and clicking?) links to LAFD content.
I wondered why such a massive turnout of personnel and equipment was needed, seems like an overkill
With 20/20 hindsight, the amount of personnel and apparatus we assign to a fire may indeed seem excessive.
Please let me explain the popular LAFD maxim: "Too Little and Too Late are the Parents of Disaster", and affirm to you that the response to this blaze was both measured and appropriate with a bit of a sports analogy...
Much like the Dodgers, we need to have far more than the nine identifiable players that take to the field at the start of the game. You may only see nine on your scorecard, but it's amazing that when you also consider the very essential back-up players, coaches, trainers, security officer and manager, that single baseball team easily fills up an entire 53 passenger bus!
While a baseball coach can call a time-out to warm up a pitcher or reconsider strategy during a seventh inning stretch, ours is more than a game of baseball.
At a fire the action is constant and often esclating, and there are no time-outs. Life, not score hangs in the balance.
The potential for things to go wrong quickly means everybody has to be at or near the 'on-deck' circle, on their toes and ready to roll!
Arriving to find a very large column of thick, heavy black smoke emanating from the roof of a 150' x 150' three-story office building (and visible across the San Fernando Valley), Battalion Chief Evan Williams was brilliant in his strategy and execution.
Knowing that firefighting doesn't allow for pause, and understanding that this particular building might be expected to have some ocupants, he initially assured adequate resources for extended non-stop rotation of fresh personnel for operations that would likely include searching highly compartmentalized offices in a zero-visibility environment as well as potential civilian and firefighter rescue, aggressive and well-coordinated fire attack and extensive salvage operations to protect the contents of the building.
Yes, he's a "travel light, move fast and hit hard" kind of leader.
Chief Williams strategy allowed for an adequate number of Firefighters in staging, so as to assure their immediate availability at scene to perform rescue and other tasks should the need arise.
While many of our fires are simple one room fires in single-story homes that are put out in less than 20 minutes, the LAFD can't risk asking for fire crews to drive clear across town when things suddenly don't go according to our wishes, or when terribly awful things happen (and they do).
Yes, we need to be on scene and ready to go, and Chief Williams made sure of that.
I could write for hours about LAFD tactics and strategy, but instead welcome you to speak directly with Chief Williams, who works on our 'B' Shift, and would be genuinely pleased telephonically or in person to take you through his real world challenges of battling this and other fires.
I can assure you that placed in his shoes, there is no Fire Department Chief Officer who would have requested less resources or been capable of doing more with what he had at hand.
Please do give him a call, and tell him I referred you. I think you'll come away amazed and proud to have such a superb civil servant in your employ.
is this a real story?
As real as they get. Then again, we all have our own definition of news.
Please consider this...
This was a readily identifiable building on one of the San Fernando Valley's busiest thoroughfares. The building is home to dozens of businesses that employ a few hundred people and routinely serve thousands. The fire required us to close busy Ventura Boulevard to all traffic, and a large group of sightseers gathered, as did reporters. There were a multitude of live radio interviews during the blaze, and every traffic report that hour included mention of the fire and its amazingly minimal aftermath.
With nearly 20 million people in our regional 'media sphere', it seems then as now, an appropriate incident to blog about, and for some of our syndicators to carry.
By any definition, this event was news, but maybe not of interest to all. That's why we encourage people to customize their on-line news, especially from syndicated sources.
Mr. Hilton, I apologize for any inconvenience you experienced in being presented with a link or article regarding this fire. Without knowing of your portal to this information though, I am hampered in offering you a solution to future exposure to our direct or syndicated on-line content.
If you so desire, please feel free to contact me via the City's 3-1-1 system, and I'll be happy to work with you in resolving this matter.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
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