1960-1969: Top stories

Dec. 6, 1999 12 AM PT

Buck Wargo

CITY HALL - As the world tossed and turned in the 1960s, Glendale had

its own mayhem. The decade had the worst fire in history, followed by

devastating floods.

The great fire of March 1964 destroyed more than 34 homes, seriously

damaged 27 others and injured four people. When it was finished, the city

had suffered more than $5 million in damage and more than 9,000 acres of

brush were blackened by the wind-whipped flames. There was damage in

sections of Whiting Woods and Verdugo Mountains, Chevy Chase and Glenoaks

Canyon. Even Eagle Rock had seven homes destroyed, and one home was

consumed in Burbank.

Hundreds of firefighters were called to Glendale to handle the fires,

the first which started at 5 a.m. in Whiting Woods and raced up the

Verdugo Mountains in a northwesterly direction.

A second fire started in Chevy Chase Canyon north of the golf course

and swept down the canyon. Greatly worsening the situation: Santa Ana

winds gusting up to 90 mph.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. Glendale Community

College students were fighting the fire at the edge of the campus using

garden hoses.

Sections of Glendale were declared a disaster area and Gov. Edmund

Brown paid a visit to Glendale to inspect the damage. The fire started

when Southern California Edison power lines were knocked down by heavy

winds.

“We had some very dry years in the early 1960s, and the brush was very

dry,” said Glendale resident Bob Gregg, an amateur climatologist. “The

Verdugos have not burned since then, and the brush is getting very thick

and that’s dangerous. It is 8 to 10 feet tall.”

The fires of 1964 contributed to the floods of 1969 that were the

worst in Glendale since 1938, Gregg said. Glendale received 150% of its

yearly rainfall in January and February and that proved to be too much

with hillsides that had lost their cover. Chevy Chase Canyon had some of

the most severe flooding, he said.

“There were a lot of homes flooded and mudslides in the hillside areas

because they were so saturated,” Gregg said. “It was an El Nino year. It

was typical Southern California. There is no happy medium. Nothing falls,

and then everything falls.”