Two separate but simultaneous fires burned in upper Potrero Canyon last Wednesday afternoon (July 28), threatening several homes and even the playing fields at the Palisades Recreation Center.   The blazes broke out shortly after 1 p.m. on a breezy afternoon, but were extinguished before they could cause any structural damage. Tiny fires were spotted in several other locations. According to Battalion Chief 17 John Miller, the’official cause of the fires was juveniles playing with fireworks.”It appears from the evidence and burn patterns at the scene that there were two different areas where the fire started,’ said Miller, who was dispatched from Woodland Hills when the Battalion 9 chief in Westwood was not available. ‘We originally got a call that the fire was at the corner of Lombard and De Pauw streets,’ said local Fire Station 69 Captain Mike Ketaily, whose crew went to the backyard and the canyon below the house to douse the blaze.   Ketaily said he could also see a grass fire spreading across two hillsides below the Recreation Center mesa, but with Stations 69 and 23 focused on preventing the canyon blaze from reaching the home, they did not have the resources to deploy a second company.   When the fire below the Recreation Center reached the hillside near the lower tennis courts off Alma Real/ Frontera, and with heavy smoke billowing into the sky, youth attending a tennis camp were sent away from the area.   Alma Real resident Jason Lehel reported the fire when it first broke out in the hillside across the canyon. When he saw the second fire coming across the Recreation Center hillside towards his house, he went into his backyard and watched as a water-dropping helicopter quickly extinguished the blaze. ‘It went so quickly it was ridiculous,’ Lehel said, noting that the L.A. Fire Department had done brush clearance in the canyon four weeks earlier. That fact was mentioned over and over by firefighters as a reason why the blazes were readily contained. Ketaily praised civilian Manuel Sanchez, who was working on a construction job in the Palisades. ‘He and his buddies were phenomenal. They kept the fire on the field near Hampden Place from spreading, until a helicopter could get here.’ ‘I happened to be driving by and saw the smoke,’ Sanchez said. ‘I saw two security guards jump over the fence into private yards off Alma Real, and I thought maybe I could help.’ He followed the guards down into the canyon and over towards Hampden Place, where he saw a homeowner hooking up a garden hose. He took a shovel from him and started throwing dirt on the flames. ‘The fire came around the corner real quick,’ Sanchez said. Ketaily was worried that the 15 mph winds would whip embers onto the large eucalyptus trees on Hampden Place, directly in front of a residence with a wooden deck. ‘I thought it was going to take off, with the dead leaves and the eucalyptus,’ he said, but ‘thanks to Sanchez it didn’t.’ Meanwhile, it took Battalion Chief Miller 30 minutes to reach the Palisades. Additional fire companies arrived from West Los Angeles, Playa Vista, Mid-Wilshire and the Mulholland corridor. Three water-dropping helicopters also fought the blazes after utilizing the Highlands reservoir. ‘The Palisades is really isolated and it takes a long time to get companies up here,’ Miller said, ‘but we were fortunate. Had the fire not been reported as quickly as it was and had the brush clearance not been completed, the fire had the possibility of spreading into denser vegetation or to homes in the area with wood-shake roofs.’ By 2:05, the fires were out, and firefighters continued to work on the hot spots, hosing them with Class A foam, which allows the water to penetrate more deeply. On the fire line, four camp crews from L.A. County Fire help turn over the entire burned areas with a shovel. ‘It’s tough what firefighters do,’ Sanchez said. ‘I’ve always had respect for them, but this elevates them to a whole new level.’

A desperate rescue operation below a townhouse in the Palisades Highlands ended last Thursday afternoon when construction worker Gualfer Lopez-Reyes was found dead in a trench, buried under 11 feet of dirt.   The L.A. County Coroner, who was on the scene in the 600 block of Palisades Drive in the Sea Ridge gated community, gave asphyxia as the cause of death.   Lopez-Reyes, a 25-year-old worker with McGrath Contracting, was part of a team hired to install a French drain along the foundation of the two-story townhouse, which enters on the second floor. Nancy Hope, president of the Sea Ridge Homeowners Association, said the owner had experienced moisture along the lower-level walls.   The contracting crew had dug out an L-shaped, 8-ft.-by-8-ft. by 11-ft.-deep trench along the building. Lopez-Reyes was the first worker to enter the trench at 10:55 a.m., only to have the dirt from the corner of the L collapse on him. Firemen from Stations 23 and 69 arrived first on the scene. Once they realized the depth at which Lopez-Reyes was trapped under the dirt, a search-and rescue team was called. Meanwhile, firefighters began digging through dirt described as adobe-like clay. They cut plywood and beams to use as support to prevent further cave-ins as they worked in the trench. According to Stephen Ruda, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman who was on scene, once the search-and-rescue team arrived, a ventilation air sock was placed after drilling through a cement block wall into the trench space in the hopes that Lopez-Reyes was in an air pocket and could be rescued. A Vactor 2100 sanitation truck, equipped with an apparatus that works as a large-scale vacuum, was positioned above the hole, and dirt was sucked out in an effort to locate Lopez-Reyes. About five feet down, the top of his white hardhat was reached.   ’He was entombed in heavy compacted dirt and there were no signs of life,’ Ruda reported. The rescue attempt ended at 2:50 p.m. Krisann Chasarik of the California State Division of Occupational Safety and Health told the Palisadian-Post that the accident is under investigation and may take three to four months to complete. ‘The construction company had an annual excavation permit,’ Chasarik said. ‘We’re focusing on determining if it [the trench] was shored up properly. Anytime there is an excavation, there are safety regulations that have to be followed.’

Just days after Toppings Yogurt announced that it will open a store on Via de la Paz this fall, a competitor says that it will follow suit on Swarthmore Avenue, below Sunset.   The Yogurt Shoppe is coming to 873 Swarthmore in space currently comprising about half of Black Ink, the stationery and gift store owned by Patti Black. ‘I’m thrilled,’ said Black on Tuesday. ‘I’ve been looking for a tenant since December.’ Black moved to her Swarthmore location in December 2003, and expanded into the space next door when the hair salon Atocha closed in 2005. Wrestling with a tough retail economy, she decided to downsize back to her original storefront. She had two other applications for the space, but chose the frozen yogurt store because she feels it will ‘draw a lot of activity to the street.’   The wall between the stores that was taken down when Black expanded will go back up today, necessitating Black’s closing for three days during the construction. She will reopen on Monday. Black’s new tenants, Kevin Sabin and Clive Lewis, said their store may not open until October because of the length of time it takes to receive city permits. The men want to open sooner, but they have been told that the earliest they can get a city health permit is anywhere from four to six weeks, and they can’t apply for a building permit until the health-permit approval comes. After a dearth of new stores opening in the Palisades, two frozen-yogurt stores should be open by the end of the year, just a block apart. Toppings will be located at 872 Via de la Paz, in the former Chefmakers space. ‘I grew up in Brooklyn and there was always a neighborhood hangout,’ said Sabin, an executive vice president with KW Commercial who lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife Jennifer and their three children, who attend Canyon School. ‘I’d like to create that same kind of place here.’ Lewis, who grew up in Leeds, England, and came to the United States via Cape Town, South Africa, has a frozen-yogurt shop in Newport Beach. He lives in Woodland Hills with his 10-year-old son and says he looks forward to the drive over Topanga Canyon to the Palisades every day. The two men met a year ago while on a kayaking trip off Catalina Island. ‘I was opening the store in Newport at the time,’ Lewis said. ‘We discussed it [frozen-yogurt stores] while kayaking for two days.’ Sabin sold Lewis on the idea of opening a store in the Palisades. The two men looked at possible locations, but while waiting to inspect a vacant store in the Village, Lewis walked into Black Ink and struck up a conversation with Black. After inspecting the first site, he and Sabin elected to opt for a location nearer the Village Green. ‘Our concept is about quality,’ Sabin said. ‘We also want to give back to the community and be part of the neighborhood, support local schools, churches and temples. Our goal is to be a fixture of the community and to be here for a long time.’ The owners plan to have 40 to 50 toppings and five yogurt machines, with two flavors at each machine. Standard flavors like vanilla and chocolate will always be available, but Sabin and Lewis plan to rotate flavors from a choice of 70, so that customers will always have something new to try. Lewis said they plan to employ local residents. To apply, call (818) 383-1010. The men will also offer store promotions on Facebook.

‘The Transformers,’ a popular 2007 sci-fi action thriller (rated PG-13), will launch the seventh annual Movies in the Park series this Saturday, August 7, on the Field of Dreams at the Palisades Recreation Center. Admission is free. Movies in the Park-Pacific Palisades, Inc., in association with the Palisadian-Post & Post Printing, presents old-fashioned family fun every Saturday evening in August. The movies start around 8 p.m. or when it is dark. The major sponsor this year is the Pacific Palisades Junior Women’s Club, joined by the Galier family (Pete, Donna, Timmy and Lauren) as co-sponsor.   The venue opens for picnics at 6 p.m., and Boy Scouts from Troop 23 will sell candy, soda and other snacks. Pets are not allowed (because of liability issues), and there is no smoking, no alcohol and no stick chairs. Cozy, vivid red-fleece blankets with the Movies in the Park logo will be on sale for $35. Bel-Air/ADT Patrol will provide security, along with teen volunteers from the Santa Monica Police Volunteer Activity League. Spectators are asked to use the park’s recycling bins. Chrysalis-Street Works will provide the maintenance. ‘The Transformers’ screening is sponsored by the Huntington Palisades Property Owners Association.