LAFIRE.COM
September 16, 1979 The Kirkwood Bowl/Laurel Canyon Fire Hollywood Hills
JOHN C. GERARD CHIEF ENGINEER AND GENERAL MANAGER
September 23, 1979
SUMMARY As the first-in Battalion Commander, my initial responsibilities was that of the Incident Commander, where I was involved in the overall development and implementation of an Emergency Organization.
Upon arrival of the Division Commander and his assumption of the position as Incident Commander, my responsibilities changed to that of the Suppression and Rescue Chief. In this position,I assisted the Incident Commander in the development and implementation of an overall fire suppression and rescue plan.
The Deputy Department Commander soon arrived on the scene. When he assumed command of the fire my responsibilities changed to that of the Plans Chief, where I continued to provide staff support to the Incident Commander.
SYNOPSIS - FIRE GROUND ACTIVITY On September 16, 1979 at 1457 hours, as the Commander of Battalion 5, I was dispatched as a part of the brush assignment to a reported brush fire at Kings rd. and Hillside ave. This first alarm brush assignment was comprised of Battalions 5 and 18; Engine and Truck 27; Engines 41, 97, and 82; and two helicopters.
As I turned onto Sunset Blvd. from Cahuenga Blvd., I could see an extremely large loom up covering a very large area. I estimated this smoke to begin above Sunset Blvd. near Sunset Plaza Dr. and moved in a North East direction in a line directly over the Kirkwood Bowl area towards Mulholland Dr. However, in the general area of the top of Kings Rd. the smoke seemed to increase substantially in volume and density. I asked OCD if we had a report of 2 brush fires in this area. I received no answer. Due to the large loom up and general area, I requested OCD to double the assignment.
As I needed someone in charge of the Companies on Hillside Ave and also a good size-up from that area, I asked Battalion 18 to become S and R and take Command of the Companies on Hillside Ave. To my dismay, he was still responding and was on Santa Monica Blvd.
I requested OCD to send me two additional Battalion Chiefs. I knew that I needed to have one B.C. in charge of the Companies that I was going to send into the Kirkwood Bowl area and one B.C. to go up in the helicopter as the reconnaissance Chief.
I then directed Engine 82 and Task Force 27 to the Hillside Dr. area along with Engine 41. I placed Captain White the TFC at TF-27 in charge of that area until relieved by a Battalion Chief. (Battalion 18) I was now sure of the general area of the fire and had companies responding to the top and bottom sides of the fire.
Division I contacted me by radio and asked my location. We talked about the two reported fires in the area. I stated that I was working on the Hillside fire where at least 10 structures were involved. And that I believed that the other fire was on lower Kings Rd. (I meant Queens Rd).
On Channel 11 I contacted Battalion 11 and gave him the assignment of Reconnaissance Chief. I also told him that he could pick up the Helicopter at Fairfax and Sunset.
__________________________ Darrel E. Thompson, Commander Battalion 5, "B" Platoon
F-225 - REV. 2-78
LAFIRE.COM Copyright 1999 All Rights Reserved.
