Los Angeles Fire Department

4.7 Anza Earthquake Shakes SoCal

A moderate earthquake rocked Southern California this morning. And yes you felt it. From Las Vegas to San Diego to Culver City. And it was only a 4.7, says the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was reported at ...

The Hollywood Reporter Gets Suspicious Package, Hazmat Teams Respond

Many folks inside the offices of The Hollywood Reporter on the Miracle Mile evacuated this morning after authorities received a suspicious package report. Photos of the location show office workers outside the building, at 5700 Wilshire Boulevard. The LAPD tells us its hazardous materials team is ... More >>

Supperclub In Hollywood Defends Itself After Charges Of Overcrowding, Fire Hazards

Supperclub, the Hollywood venue hit last week with a City Attorney's case that alleges overcrowding, fire-code violations and "life safety hazards," defended itself in a statement sent out to the media over the weekend. Strangely, the club singled out the Weekly's coverage despite similar reports i ... More >>

MacArthur Park Lake: Body Pulled From Water After Man Seen Swimming

A man apparently walked into the lake at MacArthur Park and drowned this morning, authorities said. His body was pulled from the water by L.A. Fire Department divers, LAFD spokesman Shawn Lenske reported at 11:11 a.m. The man ...

Sexy Venice Firehouse 'Burlesque' Hula Hooping Video Prompts Investigation

Updated at the bottom with a response from Hoopnotica, the video's maker. The L.A. Fire Department has been criticized recently for its response times, or at least the way it reports them, not to mention occasional firefighter shenanigans that include allegations last year that LAFD rigs were used ... More >>

Drunk Man Impaled on Fence in Hollywood Hills While Trying To Climb For Good View

A drunk guy who wondered into a Hollywood Hills neighborhood to get a nice view of the city overnight ended up with a view of a hospital room instead. In a story for the annals of Don't Try This At Home, Kids, the 25-year-old became impaled on a wrought iron fence after he scaled the wall of a home ... More >>

Fire Blazes in Sepulveda Pass Next to 405: PHOTOS

See our many updates at the bottom, including confirmation of a separate fire on the ridge above Beverly Hills. A brush fire broke out in the Sepulveda Pass this afternoon, sending up a smoke visible from around L.A. and the Westside. ABC Eyewitness News estimated that more than 20 acres had gone ... More >>

9/11 10-Year Anniversary Observed in Los Angeles

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Last year the LAPD was staffed at "full strength" as a precaution. This year Officer Cleon Joseph told us it wasn't clear what the department's plans were, though we'd expect much of the same. In the meantime the L.A. Fire ... More >>

Earthquake Measuring 3.3 Jolts Beverly Hills, Westside

A strong jolt of an earthquake hit L.A.'s Westside early on the Labor Day holiday. The temblor at 3.26 a.m. measured 3.3, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It felt strong in some parts of Los Angeles early Monday:

Highland Avenue Crash Takes Lives of Mother, Two Children in Hollywood

A mother and her children, ages 4 and 8, died when an SUV going the wrong way in traffic crashed into the woman's minivan and sent it careening into a light pole in Hollywood this morning, authorities said. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott stated that the tragic collision was report ... More >>

Turns Out LL Cool J Is Hard as Hell

A would-be burglar picked the wrong house this morning and the suspect was met with the fists of fury of one LL Cool J, who had in fact warned us via classic rap songs that he's "hard as hell" and that his "mama said knock you out." That's reportedly what happened to the intruder, who cops told the ... More >>

Avalon Fog Machine Malfunction at Midnight Red Show Sends 6 to Hospital

The horror. A fog machine malfunctioned at a Midnight Red concert that doubled as a pre-party for the Teen Choice Awards at Avalon Hollywood, sending six to a hospital, officials said. Fog enveloped the crowd and a chemical from the machine apparently burned a few club-goers leading to some pandem ... More >>

L.A. Fire Response Times: Mayor Rips Into City Attorney, Demands Release of Public Info

Never have we seen two L.A. city departments stage a fight so brazenly hostile in the public square. In a new seven-page letter from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office to City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's office (embedded below), mayoral counsel Brian Currey claims the latter is holding the public ... More >>

L.A. Fire Department Posts Gruesome Photos of Train vs. Benz Crash in Downtown L.A.

One week after the controversial media blackout on L.A. Fire Department response times and addresses -- ordered by Fire Chief Brian Cummings -- is the department overcompensating for its much-ridiculed secrecy? LAFD photographers Rick McClure and Mike Meadows snapped some insane photos of a train v ... More >>

Map of LAFD Response Times: How Slow Is Emergency Service in Your Neighborhood?

This week, L.A. Fire Department Chief Brian Cummings dropped some disconcerting news: His previous assessment that the LAFD had been meeting the national standard for emergency response times was maybe not so accurate. In fact, he said, firefighters are only arriving to the scene within 5 minutes a ... More >>

L.A. Fire Department's Public-Information Blackout: Is Withholding Response Times, Addresses Even Legal?

It was terrifying enough when L.A. Fire Department Chief Brian L. Cummings recently admitted to lying about his department's emergency response times to L.A. City Hall, leading to more dangerous cuts for LAFD. But the worst possible thing he could do, now that taxpayers have learned that their fire ... More >>

LAFD Chief Brian Cummings' Media Blackout Is Illegal and Self-Serving, Says LA.'s Top Free-Speech Attorney

[Update: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who hand-picked Cummings last September and has been lovingly tugging at the chief's puppet strings ever since, totally humiliated his political plaything this afternoon by demanding -- via passive-aggressive "open letter" -- that the LAFD go back to its old meth ... More >>

7 Pedestrians Hit at Metro Station in South L.A.: Major Injuries Reported

Updated at the bottom with 7 people hit. Headline changed to reflect that number. A vehicle has hit pedestrians at a Metro rail or bus stop near the 110 and 105 freeways this afternoon, authorities said. The Los Angeles Fire Department said that 50 first-responders were headed to the scene. The C ... More >>

Mormon Temple Fire in Westwood Sparks 'House of Worship' Arson Investigation

A midnight fire on the grounds of the Los Angeles California Temple -- the gargantuan Mormon structure that can be seen from all over the city -- has given the Los Angeles Fire Department's arson investigators their highest-profile job since the Hollywood car-fire debacle. Awesomely, the department ... More >>

Harry Burkhart: Duraflame-Type Fireplace Logs Used to Spark Alleged, 53-Fire Spree, Source Says

CBS / OnScene TVBurkhart.​The suspect who ignited as many as 53 arson fires over New Year's weekend used Duraflame-type slow-burning fireplace logs to set the blazes, a knowledgeable source inside the Los Angeles Fire Department tells LA Weekly. Investigators believe the fire-starter placed t ... More >>

Snow a Foot Deep in Local Mountains as Storms Hit Los Angeles

Mountain High​May the next New Yorker who says we don't get real weather in Southern California get struck by a tree branch the size of Albert Pujols' forearm. Sorry to get violent about it. But really, after Windopolypse earlier this month we're just getting started. It's not even officiall ... More >>

Matthew Phillipsen: Firefighter Busted Trying to Buy 7 Balloons of Heroin, LAPD Alleges

Michelle Irish​Fighting fires is a hardcore, heroic business. You bet your ass you want your first responder to be in good shape -- able to carry you out of harm's way if worst comes to worst. That's why this suspect is so damn scary:

Magic Castle Erupts in Flames, Firefighters Swarm Hollywood Landmark on Halloween

magiccastle.com​Updated at the bottom with the fire under control out. It was "Inferno Week" at the castle. First posted at 12:56 p.m. A blaze erupted at the "world famous" Magic Castle in Hollywood today. Although it was said to have started in an attic shortly before 12:45 p.m., Los Angele ... More >>

FBI Says Millage Peaks, Son of Former L.A. Fire Chief, Paid TSA Agent $5K to Let Him Smuggle Pot Through LAX

LA Daily NewsNot a proud day for former fire chief Millage Peaks (right).​Either 23-year-old Millage Peaks is really bad at math, or the former Los Angeles Fire Department chief's royalish offspring really, really wanted some California green for his trip to Boston. According to KNX news radi ... More >>

Firefighter Porn: LAFD Employees Being Investigated For Adult Videos That Used Fire Trucks as Props

davidMonroy​Public employees have been under attack lately for their lavish retirement packages that are mostly funded by you, the taxpayer. But moonlighting in porn seems to be an extreme way to fight back. First L.A. parking enforcement officers did it. Now NBC Los Angeles is reporting that ... More >>

Hard Summer Festival Near Downtown Sees 31 Medical Emergencies, 10 Arrests

Gary RichardsHard Summer, like it says.​Updated at the bottom with the arrest number revised upward. See our Hard Summer slideshow here. First posted at 8:03 a.m. on Monday. The Hard Summer Music Festival on Saturday saw sixteen hospitalizations and 31 medical emergencies, according to a stat ... More >>

Fire and Police Unions Will Protest Fire Chief's Plan: Will Budget Decisions Run on Fear or Facts? VIDEO

Fire Chief Millage Peaks actually has a backbone​RonKayeLA reports that Friday morning United Firefighters Los Angeles City union leader Pat McOsker will lead a "massive outpooring" of firefighters to the City Council meeting. T.V. cameras are likely to follow. It's budget talk time and McOs ... More >>

Black Hawk Down in Woodland Hills Rescued by Los Angeles Fire Department [Video]

LAFD / YouTube​The Los Angeles Fire Department must have earned its wings with the animal-rights brigade. (Question: Why is adapting a pet now also called a "rescue?" Discuss). Anyway, the department was called to the he 5300 block of Elvira Road in Woodland Hills last night about 7:18 p.m. f ... More >>

Car Plunges From Third Story of West L.A. Parking Garage, 76-Year-Old Driver Dies

Fox 11 News.​Update: Woman ID'd, after the jump. Correction: The Los Angeles Times calls it a four-story plunge and published a photo that indeed depicts it as a four-level structure with rooftop-like parking. The LAFD had earlier reported the accident as a three-story plunge. An elderly woma ... More >>

Pothole Swallows Motorcycle Cop's Bike Near Downtown L.A: He's Hospitalized With Cuts And Bruises

mypotholes.com​We've told you for quite some time how much we love the nationally acclaimed roads of L.A. While the City Council hoards millions in redevelopment funds for rich guys and corporate developers, we suffer thousands in damage to our vehicles from tire-popping, wheel-bending pothole ... More >>

Glenn Allen, L.A. City Firefighter, Becomes Grandfather One Day After Dying in House Fire

Glenn Allen, former L.A. firefighter and soon-to-have-been grandpa​Here's a bittersweet hero's story to begin what's shaping up to be one downright chilly President's Day in Los Angeles. As we reported last week, L.A. city firefighter Glen Allen died around noontime Friday at Cedars-Sinai Med ... More >>

Raving Without Ecstasy: Is It Even Possible?

Caesar SebastianRavers at Together As One.​Following our weekend report about the 62 medical emergencies and 25 arrests at the annual "Together As One" New Year's Eve rave, several commenters weighed in to accuse us of being biased. After all, these megaraves are just good clean fun for the w ... More >>

American Apparel Worker Dies On The Job Downtown

americanapparel.net​Updated after the jump with information from the corner's office. Originally posted at 11:31 a.m. When it rains it pours for American Apparel, even in summer. First speculation about possible bankruptcy, shareholder lawsuits and a possible boot from the New York Stock exch ... More >>

Two LAPD Cruisers Crash In Koreatown

​ Updated throughout at 4:51 p.m. A Los Angeles police office sustained serious injuries after the cruiser she was in was involved in a collision in Koreatown Friday afternoon, a city fire official said. Another patrol car appeared to have collided with an additional vehicle simultaneously, a ... More >>

Video Of Electric Daisy Carnival Rave Depicts Crush Of People, Injuries

View photos from the mega-rave in the "Electric Daisy Carnival: 60 Most Memorable Moments" slideshow and "Electric Daisy Carnival: The greatest show on earth?" slideshow. YouTube​Video of a crush of gatecrashers Saturday at the controversial Electric Daisy Carnival rave in Exposition Park de ... More >>

More Than 200 Medical Emergencies At Mega-Rave

Via Twitpic​The Los Angeles Fire Department reported over the weekend that it responded to 226 medical emergencies at the annual Electric Daisy Carnival mega-rave in Exposition Park, with 114 people being taken from the event to hospitals. CBS2 reported that many of those requiring emergency ... More >>

Fire Breaks Out In Sepulveda Pass Next To 405 Freeway [Updated]

​[Updated throughout]: In what seems to have become a spring-and-summer tradition in Los Angeles, a two-acre fire broke out Monday in the Sepulveda Pass along the 405 freeway near Skirball Center Drive, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. About 110 firefighters and three helicopter- ... More >>

Fans Crash Mega-Rave In Exposition Park

Via Twitpic​Dozens if not hundreds of people crashed the gates at a massive rave in Exposition Park Saturday, according to Fox 11 News. The annual, two-day Electric Daisy Carnival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew an estimated 140,000 people, according to the station. Although fans wer ... More >>

Who's Crashing Charlie Sheen's Cars?

​For the second time this year one of Charlie Sheen's vehicles was found at the bottom of a hillside off Mulholland Drive, according to reports. Just like the incident in February, the keys were left inside a Mercedes-Benz belonging to the actor, and it was apparently taken from his home, whic ... More >>

L.A. Firefighters Battle 32-Hour Blaze

Pick Your Part​While you were enjoying the warm weekend barbecuing, hanging out at the beach and watching the Lakers, 250 firefighters were busy battling one of the more stubborn blazes in memory: A junkyard fire in Wilmington lasted 32 hours, 10 minutes. Shortly before 8 on Sunday night a Los ... More >>

L.A. Firefighters Ponder The Possibility Of An 8.0 Earthquake

​Can you imagine what a magnitude 8.0 earthquake would do to urban Los Angeles? It's a scenario being seriously considered by the Los Angeles Fire Department Monday as it stages a "full-scale" exercise to train and prepare for just such a calamity. For three-and-a-half hours Fire Station 88 i ... More >>

Newborn Saved Through Firestation Program

Normally firefighters drive out into the community to save lives, but Monday no one at L.A. Fire Department Station 33 had to make a move out the door. Instead, an unidentified woman came to the South Central station and dropped off an infant daughter she'd just given birth to at home. As part of th ... More >>

Murder Was the Case: L.A. Homicide No. 170, Man Found Dead Outside His Car

The Los Angeles Police Department is trying to locate the killer or killers who shot 27-year-old Luis Pozos in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles today. View Larger Map According to police, Pozos was found lying on a curb next to his car on South Longwood Avenue just north of St. Elmo Drive around 1 ... More >>

The Fire Department, the Mayor and Fallout over the "No Show" Tattoo Policy

The Mayor's office is denying to the Weekly reports on other local websites that he has a long-concealed tattoo reading “Born To Raise Hell.” Antonio got slammed on Tuesday by the Mayor Sam blog over a controversy boiling up in the Los Angeles Fire Department, first reported right here, in which ... More >>

Los Angeles Firefighters Fume Over “No Show” Tattoo Policy

Some city firefighters are fuming over the Los Angeles Fire Department's new “no show” tattoo policy. The policy as of May 1 forbids tattooed firefighters from exposing their ink in public. That means firefighters who have tattoos on their arms need to cover up with long-sleeve shirts, and those ... More >>

Lawsuit Sweepstakes at LAFD

He said, she said

Women Firefighters: The Gender Boondoggle

City Hall's dream of recruiting more females is a multimillion-dollar disaster

Theater of Pain

What made Lana run?

What Really Happened at Fire Station 5?

A dog-food prank gone bad wrecks careers and morale as Tennie Pierce demands millions

Genteel L.A.: Life on the Lawn