This project was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and Photo Friends
Photograph was edited for publication purposes The Bel Air Fire was a brush fire that began on November 5, 1961 in the Bel Air community of Los Angeles. 484 homes were destroyed and 16,090 acres were burned. As a direct result of the Bel Air Fire, Los Angeles initiated a series of laws and fire safety policies. These included the banning of wood shingle roofs in new construction and one of the most stringent brush clearance policies in the United States. The Los Angeles City Fire Department produced a documentary, "Design For Disaster," about the wildfire, narrated by William Conrad. Photograph caption dated November 8, 1961 reads "Fire swept down on a Bel-Air home at Bel-Air road and Rial lane at the height of the canyon blaze Monday (top photo). Valley Time TODAY Photographer Jon Woods saw it from a helicopter, noticed there was no fire equipment there to help save it, returned Tuesday to see the results. The expensive home was nothing but charred rubble and ashes (below)." Bottom photo.; See images #00127212 through #00127214 for all photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Fires--California--Bel Air (Los Angeles) Dwellings--California--Bel Air (Los Angeles) Rubble--California--Los Angeles Streets--California--Bel Air (Los Angeles) Street signs--California--Bel Air (Los Angeles) Chimneys--California--Los Angeles Trees--California--Los Angeles Foothills--California--Los Angeles Lost architecture--California--Bel Air (Los Angeles) Mountains--California, Southern Santa Monica Mountains (Calif.) Bel Air Road (Los Angeles, Calif.) Rial Road (Los Angeles, Calif.) Bel Air (Los Angeles, Calif.) Valley Times Collection photographs
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