Backfire eating feverishly through the brush in the Topanga fire, August 24, 1940. When the flames of the main fire reach this burned-over area they will stop, because there will be no brush to feed them. Backfiring is dangerous because a sudden shift in the wind might spread the flames out of control. Of the approximately 450 square-mile area of the city, more than 150 miles are mountain and brush lands, so fighting forest fires is one of the most important jobs of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Los Angeles (Calif.).--Fire Department Fires--California--Los Angeles County Mountains--California, Southern Topanga Canyon (Los Angeles County, Calif.) Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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