Henninger Trailhead / Eaton Canyon Wild Fire Coverage in Altadena, CA

A helicopter buzzing a palm tree

At roughly 4:09pm I noticed an incredibly low flying Los Angeles County Sherrif’s Office water drop helicopter buzz our neighborhood nearly missing the neighbors’ 50ft palm tree. There had been helicopter noise for about 10 minutes prior, so this got my immediate attention. I went outside to see a copious amounts of white smoke coming from the neighborhood just about 2 blocks north of the house.

I put on my shoes to see where the fire was originating and walked up the street.

Breaking: #fire in NE Altadena foothills beneath Mt. Wilson pic.twitter.com/QDwqlu5bQr

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

A satellite map of the exact location of the blaze.

Arrival at the Scene

I walked up to the rough scene (or as close as I could get given the situation and the smoke) at about 6:22. Traffic is being stopped on Altadena Drive from roughly Canyon Close Dr. up past Roosevelt Ave.

Firefighters are connecting hoses at Canyon Close Drive and running them up the street. I suspect this is to potentially defend the homes on the top side of the street because the fire and certainly the smoke are close enough to warrant it.

Batallion Chief arriving at the scene just a few minutes after I do.

Smoke is getting thicker as I get closer to the scene of the fire.

Firefighter connecting hose at the closest hydrant, potentially to protect nearby homes.

The fire is apparently down in Eaton Canyon

View walking up Altadena Drive toward Roosevelt

7 fire trucks, 3 helo, 4 police and battalion 4 are on scene with ways drop via helo at Henninger trailhead in #altadenacanyonfire. pic.twitter.com/7YIObyMJsa

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Altadena Dr. South of Roosevelt is closed to traffic for #altadenacanyonfire

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Water drops in progress

As I was walking up to the scene until about ten minutes later there were about 4 or 5 water drops by LA County Sheriff’s Helicopters.

Scene on the street

Now up to 14 fire trucks and 2 battalion cars responding to #altadenacanyonfire pic.twitter.com/CeEZm3Xo2W

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Estimate from local sheriff officer is 1 acre with clear lines around. Containment looks good despite high winds. #altadenacanyonfire pic.twitter.com/c3j8eMWOC2

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Ground Troops Arrive

Water drops seem to have stopped for the moment and groups of firefighters are arriving to descend down into Eaton Canyon to finish off the blaze. By rough count there were about 50-60 firefighters down in the canyon and roughly another 30 or so additional firefighters and other first responders up on the street providing support.

Group of ground firefighters arrive to battle the blaze on the ground.

They’re heading half a block up to the Henninger Trail Head to descend down to the scene of the fire.

Ground troops moving in. #altadenacanyonfire pic.twitter.com/3A8PimNfCE

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Clean up time

It’s now 4:43 pm and water drops have stopped for the past 10 minutes or so. It’s now roughly 45 minutes after the firefight started. Here are some pictures from the vantage point just above the location of the fire just a few feet away from the canyon edge. Based on my guestimate the fire took up approximately 2-4 acres of space which was primarily dry scrubbrush and several trees in the middle of the arroyo.

on the North side of Altadena Drive, to get a better view of the scene.

Chainsaws, shovels, and picks in use to knock down the last of the fire.

Firefighters putting out the last of the blaze.

View down into the canyon

Reporting live from the scene

With things beginning to look like they’re winding down, and with a clearer view of the scene now that the smoke has abated significantly I take a moment to do a quick video recap for the viewers at home.

https://t.co/X0N6PlFJ5W

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Physical site of fire. #altadenacanyonfire pic.twitter.com/nyx27VlLmA

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Looks like about 4 acres mostly contained #altadenacanyonfire pic.twitter.com/hAIsrFVx8w

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Altadena Dr. north of New York closed to through traffic for at least another hour. #altadenacanyonfire

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018

Heading home

Things appear to be under control by about 5pm, so I headed home. Stopping to ask local police how long the street is likely to be closed through rush hour.

I arrive at the house and toss in the coordinates of the fire into Google Maps to discover the center of the fire was 2,426 feet from the house (roughly 2 blocks away.) It was easy to get exact coordinates given the size of the trees in the fire zone and the specificity of the images in Google’s satellite view. We definitely dodged one today, particularly given the dryness of the last year and the high winds we’ve seen all afternoon.

It also dawns on me that I took a hike through this exact portion of Eaton Canyon yesterday morning. My checkin at the time captures a photo across the canyon almost 30 hours before the incident. I’ll try to get another sometime this week to provide a direct comparison.

Looks like the fire is almost out just in time for the 5pm evening news. @CBSLA @ABC7 @NBCLA @KCBSKCALDesk @FOXLA

— Chris Aldrich (@ChrisAldrich) February 20, 2018