Baldwin Hills Replay Cut Short After Blaze Damages Six Homes

Six homes were damaged Thursday afternoon when fire swept up a slope in the Baldwin Hills and skipped from wood shingle roof to wood shingle roof in a small-scale replay of the massive blaze in the same neighborhood last July that charred more than 40 homes and killed three people.

Los Angeles firefighters quickly controlled the blaze, about half a mile from last summer’s disastrous fire. There were no serious injuries reported.

One firefighter was treated for minor burns and four police officers for smoke inhalation.

A Fire Department spokesman said the blaze was of “suspicious origin,” and an arson investigation was under way.

Police and fire investigators questioned a 13-year-old neighborhood boy in connection with the fire. His parents had brought him to the Southwest Division station after learning that he had been playing with matches, a police spokesman said. The boy, whose family reportedly had recently moved to Baldwin Hills, was later booked for investigation of arson, but it was not known if he had been released to his parents or placed in the custody of juvenile authorities.

“It was the same as the other fire,” Battalion Chief Dave Lilly said. “We were just lucky this time.”

Weather conditions were nearly identical: a hot, dry afternoon.

The July blaze was started by an arsonist, authorities said. But despite massive publicity and a large reward, there have been no arrests.

Thursday’s fire started near Stocker Drive--like the bigger blaze--and roared up hill, hitting Don Cota Place, a cul-de-sac off Don Felipe Drive, which was the center of the previous fire. The heavy wood shake roofs of 4401, 4407, 4412, and 4413 Don Cota were engulfed, and then flames jumped to a similar roof at 4355 Don Luis Drive and 4248 Don Tapia Place.

Three of the six houses sustained heavy damage, a Fire Department spokesman said. Officials estimated total damage at between $200,000 and $300,000.

The fire reported at 3:42 p.m. was fought by 16 engine companies. Firefighters had the blaze almost completely out within 90 minutes. Neighborhood residents hosed down their rooftops while the firefighters worked.

C. Delores Jolly, an elderly woman whose house on Don Luis was damaged, was led out of her home unharmed through the flames and smoke by her nephew, James Armstead, who lives across the street.

“I kept smelling something, and then I saw the smoke,” Jolly said. “I thought somebody must be barbecuing. I couldn’t believe it was a fire. After a few seconds, I knew it was.”

Nancy Armstead, the wife of her nephew, said her house was undamaged by the blaze, but she and her husband did not realize at first that the older woman was in danger.

“There was so much smoke you didn’t know whose house was on fire,” she said. “When I saw the smoke, I didn’t believe it. This just happened two or three months ago.”

Illona Mills, who lives nearby and whose house was undamaged, said: “I guess we should all be thankful it wasn’t as bad this time as it was before.”

“I don’t know what’s salvageable,” Desma Richardson, owner of one of the damaged homes, said sadly. “There’s no roof, and there’s water everywhere.”

Richardson arrived shortly after firefighters to find her house ablaze. She had neighbors to thank for rescuing her 10-year-old collie from the backyard.

Thursday’s fire affected even some of those victimized by the July 2 blaze.

Trevia Russell said that when she heard of the latest fire, “I just broke into tears. Why this area?”

Since her home on Don Carlos was destroyed, she has been living with her husband and two sons in a rented house in South Los Angeles.

Russell said that just before news came of Thursday’s fire, she was talking about Baldwin Hills to a friend on the phone.

The friend told Russell, “It’ll never happen again. Lightning doesn’t strike twice.”

Russell said, “The very next call I got said Baldwin Hills was on fire. A day like today makes you wonder, ‘Do I want to move back up there.’ ”

About an hour after the blaze broke out Thursday, a small brush fire also erupted near the reservoir close to the remains of the old Baldwin Hills dam, a Fire Department spokesman said. It was extinguished quickly. Caused of the fire was under investigation.