Mandeville Canyon Blaze Sparked By Weed-Wacker Nearly Contained

BRENTWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Firefighters expect full containment Monday for an accidental brush fire in Mandeville Canyon that charred about 55 acres and burned near homes in Brentwood.

The flames were 95 percent contained by a line of cleared vegetation Monday morning and new crews of firefighters were expected to replace the firefighters who worked all night, according to Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The fire was accidentally caused by sparks from a weed-wacker.

Harvey Alpert gave us this picture of crews defending his home.

This is where the fire started after a gardener slipped and fell while clearing bush on his hillside.
The heat from the engine from a weed wacker started the fire.

"It's not something you every want to happen. But it did. I know he was devastated." Alpert said.

By the time the blaze was reported at 12:45 p.m. Sunday it had burned three to four acres of brush near a house in the 2960 block of Mandeville Canyon Road, she said.

An hour later, it had spread to eight acres, burning up hillsides toward the Mountaingate Country Club, Stewart said.

At 10:40 p.m. the acreage had risen to about 55 acres but a containment line of cleared brush was about 70 percent around the flames and resources sent by mutual aid agencies had been released, Stewart said.

A volcano-like smoke plume was visible across the Westside and San Fernando Valley, as the fire consumed moderate to thick brush in an area just off Mandeville Canyon Road, a dead end thoroughfare that snakes up a deep canyon, lined by expensive view houses.

Mandeville Canyon Road was shut down at Sunset Boulevard to accommodate fire fighting operations, Stewart said.

Fire trucks were staged for assignment at Sunset Boulevard, two-plus miles downhill from the fire. Another command post was set up at the Mountaingate country club, north of the fire and just west of the San Diego (405) Freeway.

Firefighters asked Los Angeles police to be ready in case houses needed to be evacuated. Eventually five homes were cleared, Stewart said. By late evening residents with IDs were allowed to return to their homes.

No houses were burned and no injuries were reported.

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