Disaster Strikes Again and Again in Valley

Throughout the 20th century, the San Fernando Valley has been no stranger to natural disasters. Earthquakes, fires, floods--the region has seen them all, often with horrific outcomes.

The most damaging to property was the Northridge earthquake that struck with a 6.7 magnitude on Jan. 17, 1994. The temblor killed 57 people, injured nearly 12,000 others and caused more than $40 billion in property damage, still the costliest disaster in U.S. history.

The entire city lost electricity; freeways, buildings and homes collapsed; a train derailed, and crude oil and gas pipelines and propane tanks burst, igniting fires throughout the Valley.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the Valley’s first encounter with a major quake.

On Feb. 9, 1971, the 6.7 magnitude Sylmar earthquake hit, taking 64 lives and causing $550 million in property damage.

The Valley is surrounded by hills and canyons covered with chaparral that becomes dangerously combustible tinder when coupled with dry Santa Ana winds. The area has experienced a number of fires throughout the century, some caused by Mother Nature, some by carelessness, others by arson.

The most recent such major event was the Calabasas-Malibu fire that started Nov. 2, 1993, and burned for five days, blackening 17,027 acres--nearly 27 square miles--killing three people, injuring 12 others and causing at least $215 million in property damage.

Other major blazes throughout the decades include:

* Thanksgiving Day 1938, Topanga Canyon, 350 homes destroyed;

* New Year’s Eve 1958, 71 homes destroyed in Topanga and Benedict canyons;

* July 10, 1959, Laurel Canyon, 43 homes destroyed, including the old Houdini mansion;

* November 1961, the Bel-Air fire destroyed 484 homes;

* Sept. 25, 1970, two fires--one in Chatsworth, another in Malibu--joined near Hidden Hills, blackening more than 40,000 acres and destroying more than 170 homes and structures;

* Oct. 9, 1982, Dayton Canyon fire burned more than 45,000 acres between Canyon Park and the ocean, destroying 36 homes and 49 trailers;

* Dec. 9, 1988, Porter Ranch fire left 15 homes in ruins; and

* Oct. 21, 1996, Calabasas to the Pacific Ocean, more than 12,000 acres and two homes burned.

But floods were the deadliest form of disaster this century in the Valley area.

About midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam’s 200-foot-high concrete wall crumpled, sending 12 billion gallons of water down San Francisquito Canyon north of Saugus, killing at least 450 people.

At the time, engineer William Mulholland’s design was blamed, but a 15-year study released in 1992 concluded that the dam collapsed because its eastern edge sat on an ancient landslide. Given the geological knowledge of the time, Mulholland was unaware of the fatal flaw.

Naturally occurring floods also took their toll.

In February and March 1938, storms dumped 11 inches on the area, killing at least 96 people across Southern California. Three years later, the Sepulveda Dam and reservoir were built as a flood-control basin.

During a powerful storm on Feb. 10, 1992, the Fire Department rescued 48 stranded motorists caught in Sepulveda Basin flood waters on Burbank Boulevard.

The storm, which lasted several days, took eight lives and caused $125 million in property damage in Southern California.