Landslide blocks Sepulveda Blvd. in Westwood

A landslide in the Westwood area knocked out power to about 1,800 homes and buildings in Brentwood and Bel Air and closed portions of Sepulveda Boulevard through this morning’s commute after a hillside backyard sheared away and tore down power lines, authorities said.

Drivers near the intersection of Montana Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard reported arcing power lines about 7:10 a.m., a sign of shifting earth, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

By 9 a.m., power was restored to the Getty Center and nine other industrial and commercial customers, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. About three homes closest to the slide, on the 300 block of Thurston Avenue, were being investigated by the Fire Department and city geologists to determine the reason for the landslide.

The collapse of the hill sent a large tree tumbling onto Sepulveda Boulevard, which was closed between Sunset and Montana because of “pavement disruption” due to the landslide,” Humphrey said.

Authorities on the scene initially said a water main break appeared to have contributed to the collapse, although Humphrey cautioned that “the cause will probably not be known for quite some time.” After an initial investigation, DWP crews found no problem with the water system.

No one was reported injured, and the damage appeared limited to one home’s backyard, officials said. Although some residents left voluntarily, no evacuations had been ordered. Officials suggested people in the three homes closest to the slide leave while geologists studied the structures.

“It’s crazy, all the sudden the lights were on and then the lights were off. I walked into the kitchen to make the kids lunches but there was no power,” said Stephanie Dubinsky, who lives a block from the slide. “It’s a little scary because we have friends who live down there.”

Cleanup was expected to take hours because water pipes and power lines had to be repaired, officials said. Within an hour of the hill’s collapse, traffic in the area was backed up significantly as officials diverted cars to Montana Avenue.

By about noon, the Fire Department had more than 75 firefighters working the scene, escorting Department of Building and Safety inspectors and Bureau of Engineering geologists around trying to determine the source of the slide.

“It becomes in many ways a case of the chicken and the egg,” Humphrey said. “There was water and mud, there were water lines ruptured, but the question remains: Did the water lines rupture because of the landslide? Or did the landslide occur because the water lines ruptured?”

Another question officials are working to answer is where the landslide occurred: on a homeowner’s property line, on city property, DWP property or otherwise. “We don’t know where the property line ends and where the landslide began,” Humphrey said. “And that will become highly contested.”

The slide took place within sight of the Getty Center and a short distance from the Sunset Boulevard exit of the 405 Freeway, where traffic was sluggish.

As word of the slide became known, several news helicopters hovered overhead and more than 50 firefighters reported to the scene, in addition to officials from more than a dozen several city agencies.

tami.abdollah@latimes.com