Fallen Firefighter Remembered

A memorial plaque was dedicated Tuesday to a Los Angeles firefighter killed 21 years ago battling a blaze at a North Hollywood lumberyard.

Recalling his heroics and exemplary service, fellow firefighters, including Fire Chief William Bamattre, honored Brian Phillips of Chatsworth at Van Nuys Fire Station 102 on Burbank Boulevard.

The five-year veteran died April 25, 1979, while fighting a fire at Mullin Lumber in the 7100 block of Lankershim Boulevard.

Phillips, 30, was standing on an 85-foot-high aerial ladder pouring water on flames when the hose nozzle broke from its mounting and began whipping out of control.

Phillips lost his balance and grabbed the ladder. Seconds later he lost his grip and fell about 55 feet to his death.

Phillips was initially turned down by the department because he was told he was too short, Capt. Steve Ruda said.

That news was a blow for Phillips, who wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Terry Phillips, who served 26 years with the same department and retired in 1967 as a captain.

But the younger Phillips eventually was offered a job, and he became one of the most hard-working and reliable firefighters, according to fellow employees.

“He was the first one to work and the last one to go home,” Ruda said.

“He was a fireman’s fireman, who was a mechanical genius. Whatever the problem was, he could fix it.”

More than 100 people attended the ceremony, including Phillips’ widow, Brenda Mollohan, who traveled from Utah and had been married to Phillips only nine months when he died.

The station’s firefighters said it was incumbent on them to honor one of their fallen brothers, and they began discussing the plaque after similar memorials were dedicated in 1998 to other recently fallen firefighters.

“The Fire Department is a brotherhood and we felt that he should be remembered eternally,” LAFD Capt. Brian Rubino said.

“Every firefighter [killed] since him has had a plaque in their name. It also lets people know that he will never be forgotten,” Rubino said.

The fire, which caused $750,000 damage, was later determined to have been caused by an arsonist.

No arrest has ever been made.