One home destroyed, multiple others damaged by landslide in Sherman Oaks
A landslide destroyed one home and damaged three others in Sherman Oaks, forcing some residents to evacuate from one neighborhood early Wednesday morning.
Firefighters responded around 3 a.m. to 3741 N. Ventura Canyon Ave. regarding a large tree and wires down in the backyard of a home and found a large portion of a hillside had slid down toward at least three homes, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The slide opened up a cavernous trough that wound through the neighborhood.
Video shows one house that sustained damage to the pool area in the backyard with debris hitting the pool house along with large cracks on the ground. The home, which has been red-tagged by building inspectors, is being remodeled and nobody was inside at the time of the mudflow.
"The whole thing collapse onto itself," said LAFD Captain Adam Van Gerpen.
The slide also came dangerously close to two other homes, both of which were evacuated. Fire officials said a total of three people were evacuated from the area. A fourth home was also being closely watched, but was not immediately evacuated.
In all, two homes were red-tagged and a third was yellow-tagged.
"We're not seeing any eminent threat right now for any additional homes in the area," Van Gerpen said.
Still, neighbors are concerned due to the extreme amount of mudslides affecting Southern California in recent months.
"I guess the bottom line is, we all have to be very concerned and take care of our properties, whether it's maintaining your hillside, maintaining your trees, because otherwise, things like this happen," said Jacki Benn, who lives nearby.
This area in Sherman Oaks is considered high risk for landslides after the recent rain, according to the USGS. Officials believe the saturated soil around these homes played a factor in the landslide.
The city Department of Building and Safety is on scene accessing the integrity of the structures and hillsides. Inspectors red-tagged the residence that collapsed.
Landslides have continued to occur in recent weeks following the devastating storms that inundated the region earlier this year, dumping record amounts of rain.
RELATED: Rockslide closes portion of PCH in Malibu
Earlier this week, a landslide forced the closure of Pacific Coast Highway near Big Rock in Malibu. Crews later cleared enough of the road for two lanes of southbound traffic and one lane of northbound traffic. A separate slide has forced the indefinite closure of Topanga Canyon Boulevard from PCH to Grand View Drive.
Another stretch of PCH north of Corral Canyon Road is restricted to one lane of traffic due to a slide that occurred in February.
