Highlands Home Consumed in Blaze

A house fire consumed a two-story, 4,806-square-foot home the evening of Thursday, March 28, in The Highlands, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Brian Humphrey.

The fire, which burned on Avenida de Santa Ynez, broke out just days after Highlands Pacific Palisades Community Council Representative Steve Cron organized a fire safety meeting with representatives from LAFD.

The fire was reportedly caused by a welding tool left on in the home’s garage, according to homeowner Tom Michael.

“Well, my son, he’s an amateur welder, and he apparently forgot to turn something off and something caught fire,” Michael explained to the Palisadian-Post. “It wasn’t rags, just something just wasn’t out. Everybody’s safe, all the pets are out. You know, that’s the plus. Nobody got hurt. You can rebuild a home.”

“Two-story, single-family dwelling, heavy fire in garage extended up to second floor,” LAFD Station 69 Chief Jeffrey Brown told the Post. “Then we did offensive fire attack. That was it, no injuries.”

No other collateral damage from the fire was reported. LAFD companies Battalion 9, Station 23, Station 63, Station 69, Rescue 23, Rescue 69 and Rescue 19 were called out to the incident.

While LAFD mounted a quick attack, smothering the blaze in minutes with a team of 30 firefighters, their response time (more than 25 minutes) left Highlands residents concerned and confused.

“There was a slow response time,” LAFD Station 23 Captain Karl Ullrich explained to the Post on Tuesday, April 2. “Once we got the call, we were out the door in a minute or two, but it’s The Highlands—even on the best of days, getting a 40,000-pound fire engine up Pali Drive—you’re not going to be setting any speed records.”

Michael shared that he doesn’t blame LAFD, but that he was disappointed at the arrival time because the damage may have been less, adding that fire fighters stick their necks out for people every day and that the response system is “obviously broken.”

“I couldn’t [call],” he shared. “I tried, they wouldn’t take my call. Not until the ACS came up here and wired and called them did it work.”

“I can’t speak to the 911 system—it’s got flaws,” Ullrich said. “You’ve got a whole city full of people calling at the same time. There’ s going to be some delays.”

One Highlands resident, who wished to remain anonymous, was similarly put on hold when she attempted to report the blaze.

“The major question is whether we should be calling the fire station directly instead of 911,” the resident said. “Why was it so busy on a Thursday night? I’m not sure if it’s typical to be put on hold—I don’t call 911 too often.”

Ullrich explained that calling the station does not work very well, as people could be calling the wrong station for their neighborhood.

“They should call the fire department directly if that happens, not the fire station,” Ullrich added. “How the 911 system works, it goes from 911 to LAPD dispatchers, then they go, ‘There’s a fire,’ and they kick it over to our dispatchers and we dispatch it from there.”

The direct number for the fire department is 213-847-5340.