Homeowners grabbed what they could before flames consumed their Studio City home. Video broadcast Thursday Jan. 9, 2025 on Today in LA
A multi-story hillside home collapsed in flames Wednesday night when several residences burned in Studio City.
Firefighters prevented flames from spreading in nearby brush, avoiding what authorities said could have been a much larger and more destructive fire in the densely populated hills above Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley community.
The fire broke out as major wildfires burn around Los Angeles County, including the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades.
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"Our fire department was faced with another massive challenge," said LAFD Chief Kristin M. Crowley. "High winds caused the fire to extend within adjacent brush, potentially causing another brush fire. We were successful in preventing another devastating brush fire."
The fire extended to about 1 acre of brush.
Homeowners described a race to grab what they could as their home burned.
"We heard what seemed to be gunshots and looked outside," a homeowner told a photographer at the scene. "We saw our next-door neighbor's, fire coming out of their home. Took a second, went back out again… and I said, 'Our house is on fire.'
"We grabbed our phones, our computer and our dogs and ran out."
No injuries were reported. The fire, which burned two homes in the 3600 block of North Sunswept Drive, was knocked down around 10 p.m.
Details about how the fire started were not immediately available.
On the southern facing side of the hills, a brush fire forced evacuations Wednesday night. Water-dropping helicopters attacked the Sunset Fir, which burned about 60 acres near Runyon Canyon.
Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday morning. There was no immediate word on how the fire started.
