Wildfire Injures 5 Firefighters, Los Angeles

MAJOR EMERGENCY BRUSH FIRE
8935 W Foothill
Sunland
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
TIME: 11:29 AM
INCIDENT #: 0418

On Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 11:29 AM, 33 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 6 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 3 Arson Units, 1 Rehab Unit, 4 LAFD Helicopters, 2 EMS Battalion Captains, 4 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams and 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 202 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel, joined by 4 Hand Crews, a Crew Supervisor and Helicopter from the Los Angeles County Fire Department as well as five Engine Companies, 1 Hand Crew, 2 Patrols, a Water Tender, Helicopter and Supervisor from the U.S. Forest Service, each under the Command of Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Jeffrey S. Mottram, responded to a Major Emergency Brush Fire in the Wildland Fire Mutual Threat Zone of Oliver Canyon near Foothill Boulevard and Conover Place in the Los Angeles community of Sunland.

Firefighters from the three agencies converged quickly to find nearly three acres of volatile grass and brush burning in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains during a period of seasonally intense heat but little wind. As water-dropping helicopters commenced a synchronized aerial assault at the head of the fire, ground based firefighters anchored the flames, working the flanks of the fire along the steep and at-times unstable terrain north of the Tujunga Wash. Keeping the flames more than 100 yards from a handful of nearby homes, firefighters held the blaze to less than twenty acres of wilderness, extinguishing the flames in just 1 hour and 46 minutes.

During emergency fireground operations in rugged terrain, a total of five firefighters sustained non-life threatening injuries. The injured included two Los Angeles Firefighters, one suffering a severe ankle sprain, the other fracturing a bone in his lower leg. Also injured were three Hand Crew members supervised by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, including one who suffered multiple bee stings, and two others who fell ill due to heat exhaustion. All five men were taken to area hospitals by LAFD Rescue Ambulance, where they were treated and released to remain off-duty. No other injuries were reported. The cause of this blaze remains under active investigation.