LAFD Battles Stubborn Flames in Massive Construction Debris Pile

SUN VALLEY - More than 120 Los Angeles Firefighters labored in rotating teams for more than 11 hours on Thursday, to fully extinguish a stubborn recycling yard blaze in the northeast San Fernando Valley that sent one firefighter to the hospital.


The Los Angeles Fire Department was summoned at 4:03AM on August 23, 2012 to the Waste Management recycling facility at 11606 Sheldon Street in Sun Valley, where they discovered a deep-seated blaze in a massive "football-field-sized" construction debris pile being processed for recycling.

Through the initial assistance of an on-site tractor operator, later supplemented by a pair of LAFD operated bulldozers, firefighters spread and doused the pile with water and firefighting foam, containing the blaze in less than five hours and fully extinguishing the flames by 2:00PM.

With smoke hanging low in the sky, and dozens of fire apparatus and fire hose deployed along Sheldon Street, the industrial thoroughfare was closed for nine hours, as LAFD crews completed their battle against seemingly implacable flames.

At the height of the battle, one LAFD Firefighter sustained a significant hand laceration and could not continue duty. He was taken to an area hospital for first care, where he was treated and released.

No other injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Dispatched Units: E77 RA77 E298 E98 T98 E24 E89 T89 E289 E274 T74 DC3 SQ21 EM14 BC12 RA909 TP2 DT3 DT2 LD1 E87 SQ87 E7 E260 T60 BC14 FT17 E17 RA98 RT83 TP1 E24 EA1 E87 RA60 T78 E278 EM14 E39 T2 E202 T11 E211 RA889

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Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

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'Greater Alarm' Does Damage to Pacoima Business

PACOIMA - Firefighters from all ends of the San Fernando Valley converged on a large, commercial "Structure Fire" today. There were no injuries.

The time of alarm was 3:54 pm on Saturday, December 10, 2011. First on-scene companies at 9847 North Glenoaks Boulevard, encountered an approximate 50' x 150' commercial building with "heavy fire showing from the rear" of a wrought-iron manufacturer. The incident quickly escalated to a "Greater Alarm Structure Fire" as 80 Los Angeles Firefighters teamed-up to battle the intense heat and flames generated by the single-story occupancy, constructed entirely of metal.

Firefighters managed to halt the fast moving blaze before it reached the company's administrative office and in doing so, were able to preserve critical business information, as well as some valuable inventory. The fire was fully-extinguished in 1 hour and 12 minutes. There were no injuries reported from the scene.

Dollar-loss estimates were placed at $500,000 for structure and $250,000 for contents. The cause of the late afternoon fire is under active investigation by the LAFD's Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section.

Dispatched Units: E77 E88 E98 T98 E298 E287 T87 RA898 RA98 EM17 BC12 BC10 E60 E274 T74 E24 DC3 SQ21 BC14 E7 E91 E81 E275 T75 E260 T60 E239 T39 EM14 E89 T89 E289 RA89 RA889 UR88 BC5 AR2 AR7 RA93 SU1 BC14 DT3 HE1 LD1 LD2 TP2 TP3 EA1 EL83 RT83 E39 E87 T93 E293

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Submitted by Matt Spence, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

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