Photos: Scenes From the November 1961 Bel Air Fire Disaster
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In November 1961, a disastrous brush fire destroyed nearly 500 homes when it roared over a mountain ridge and swept through canyons in Los Angeles' Bel Air community, a grim illustration of the potential for wildfire devastation in a densely populated area surrounded by steep terrain and dry brush.
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Images from the November 1961 Bel Air Fire disaster.
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The LIFE Picture Collection via
This image shows Chalon Road in Bel Air, where 28 houses and part of a school burned in the 1961 fire. (Photo by Grey Villet/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
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The LIFE Picture Collection via
A house burns in the 1961 Bel Air Fire disaster. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
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The LIFE Picture Collection
A view from Chalon Road in Bel Air as a firefighting aircraft soars overhead. (Photo by Grey Villet/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
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The LIFE Picture Collection via
Theatrical agent Walter Kohner walks through remains of his home, destroyed the 1961 Bel Air Fire. (Photo by Grey Villet/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
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The LIFE Picture Collection via
Fire burns in the Bel Air community in November 1961. (Photo by J. R. Eyerman/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
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The LIFE Picture Collection via
An aerial view shows a fire-damaged section of Bel Air. (Photo by J. R. Eyerman/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
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The LIFE Picture Collection via
American politician and former Vice President (and future President) Richard Milhous Nixon uses a garden hose to water down the wood-shingled roof his rental house on North Bundy Drive during the 1961 Bel Air Fire. (Photo by Allan Grant/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
