On Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 7:47 PM PDT, nine Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, three LAFD Rescue Ambulances, two Chief Officer Command Teams as well as various LAFD support and investigative resources, all under the direction of Battalion Commander Michael Rhodes responded to a Greater Alarm Structure Fire at 13604 Bracken Street in Arleta. The first Company arrived quickly to discover heavy fire showing from the garage attached to a one-story single family home.

According to witnesses, the home’s sole resident had been in the garage using a bench grinder when sparks ignited nearby ordinary combustible items. The adult male was able to escape unharmed, but the flames soon spread in the heavy storage of the garage and extended rapidly through the attic and flammable wood shake roof to threaten a pair of single-family homes adjacent to 1,400 square-foot wood-frame structure.

Firefighters mounted a fierce interior assault on the swift-moving flames, but were hampered to gain access in much of the fifty-five year-old structure due to pack-rat conditions throughout the dwelling. During fire attack, one Los Angeles Firefighter sustained first-degree burns to his ear. In fair condition, he was transported to Sherman Oaks Community Hospital. Despite the stubborn flames that consumed the attic and much of the excessive storage throughout the home, Firefighters spared the northwest portion of the structure from serious damage, and extinguished the flames in just forty minutes.

No other injuries were reported. Loss from the fire, which took nearly four and one-half hours to overhaul due to the pack-rat conditions, is estimated at $350,000 ($250,000 structure & $100,000 contents). Displaced by the fire, the resident stated a desire to seek his own accommodations. The cause of this blaze is listed as accidental, and attributed to carelessness with the electric bench grinder.