Loop fire

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Shot from the hills that burned during the 1969 Loop Fire . The white cluster of buildings in the center of the picture shows the veterans hospital, which was located roughly in the middle of the fire spread. (1971)

The Loop Fire was a forest or bush fire that broke out from November 1 to November 2, 1966 in Los Angeles County , California , USA , and reached an area of ​​around 8.2 km². Twelve firefighters were surprised by the flames in a chimney-like canyon and killed, ten more survived seriously injured.

Development course of the fire

Aerial view from the west of the Los Pinetos Nike site facilities . The fire broke out south of it through a defective power line and initially also threatened the barracks facilities. At the request of the forest administration, soldiers removed the vegetation in advance and placed the rockets in the underground shafts. (1988)

The fire was started on the morning of November 1, 1966 at the ridge of Loop Canyon on the border of the Angeles National Forest by a damaged power line from the Los Pinetos Nike Missile Site and fanned by Santa Ana winds from the northeast. The fire spread rapidly down the hill in a southerly direction and threatened built-up area in the San Fernando Valley between the Pacoima Dam and the Olive View Sanatorium , which is why the fire department of Los Angeles City and County built a firebreak, the Bulldozer Line. The forest administration took over the north and east of the fire . The west side of the fire had been a burned area since 1962, where the flames could not spread.

The El Cariso Hotshots, an elite fire force for fighting forest fires, laid a firebreak down the hill on the east side, which was to be connected to the bulldozer line in the south. To do this, they moved down through a chimney-like canyon at the southeast end of the fire. The fire burned at the east end of the bulldozer line, west of a steep gully. From there, the fire suddenly leapt through the gutter to the east side and overcame a ridge that had separated the gutter from the hotshots. The reason for the rapid spread could not be reconstructed, and the development of wind by one of the fire-fighting helicopters was named as a possible cause.

According to the investigation report, eddy currents , thermal radiation and the dry vegetation were responsible for the subsequent jump of the flames into the canyon of the firefighters, who were completely surprised by the fire. Due to the topography of the canyon, which is approximately 200 feet (61 m) long and 30 feet (9 m) wide, a chimney effect developed , with the flames shooting up the hill about 670 meters in less than a minute. Ten of the firefighters were killed on the spot and twelve others were injured, some life-threateningly, with two of them later succumbing to their injuries in hospital.

On November 2, around 1 p.m., the fire was under control.

Effects

The first fire-fighting measures were initiated just 17 minutes after the fire became known, the fire itself was active for less than 32 hours and had not destroyed any infrastructure. 880 firefighters, 12 aircraft and 68 land vehicles were deployed. El Cariso Park in Sylmar was named after the hotshot unit. A memorial there commemorates the victims. In the Decker Fire in 1959, three firefighters from El Cariso were killed just three miles from the fire station.

Because of the loop tragedy, a checklist was introduced for creating firebreaks downhill, the increased use of helicopters for information gathering and fire observation, as well as for equipping with fire-ned radios, fire-retardant clothing and fire shelters on the man. In all fire behavior training, the danger of the chimney effect is also pointed out.

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