A fire broke out in a Brentwood home Monday afternoon amid dry, windy conditions that had firefighters worried the blaze could spread to neighboring homes. Patrick Healy reports from Brentwood for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Nov. 12, 2012.
At least one home was damaged in a fire Monday afternoon in Brentwood, but firefighters prevented flames from spreading amid dry and windy conditions.
The fire burned the home and some brush near Chickory Lane and Canna Road (map). At least two water-dropping helicopters responded to the location on the west side of the 405 Freeway, northwest of the Getty Center.
The home's occupants, a couple in their 90s, escaped the fire with the help of neighbors who saw the pair just feet from the flames. The man had lived in the home since 1948, according to his daughter.
The cause of the fire, knocked down in about one hour, was not immediately determined.
Fire officials credits neighbors for the significant precautionary brush clearance, which likely played a significant role in crews' ability to extinguish the blaze.
Aerial video showed significant damage to one home on the hillside, which firefighters accessed on narrow and winding roads.
A neighbor who lives just above the burnt home captured cell phone video of the blaze, which he says incited panic in the neighborhood when fire trucks seemed to be delayed.
"As you can see from the pictures, it was burning out of control," he said. "There was no water hitting the fire at that point. When this happened, it was like, 'Where is everybody?' It was a very panicked feeling."
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The incident report shows it took the first engine 11 minutes to arrive on scene. Federal guidelines call for first responders to arrive within five minutes most of the time. An ambulance arrived on scene within seven minutes, but neighbors were initially worried because no pumper trucks had arrived.
Still, officials said they were able to respond quickly, even with one engine house out on a call on Wilshire Boulevard.
"We had enough resources that responded plus we added more as we responded in," said Battalion Chief Mark Akahoshi with LAFD.
Crews successfully kept the flames from jumping to surrounding homes. Sustained winds of 20 mph were expected into Tuesday. Gusts might reach 50 mph in mountain areas of LA and Ventura counties.
One resident was being evaluated for minor smoke inhalation, according to the fire department.
