Wildfires in Los Angeles County

January 21, 2025

Please note that this is an update to a September 15, 2020 Peek in the Stacks blog post.

Our hearts go out to all those impacted by the devastating fires in Los Angeles County. It is hard to imagine the loss of life, loved ones, home, and community that so many are experiencing right now. At the same time, we are heartened by the outpouring of help, love, and support we are witnessing – from each other as well as from others in California, the country, and around the world. Words cannot express our appreciation and gratitude to those on the front lines, including firefighters and other first responders, incarcerated people helping to fight and contain the fires, volunteers, agencies and organizations stepping in to support communities, and family and friends pulling together to help loved ones.

Fires and the Santa Ana winds are a part of life in California; however, the level of destruction in recent years, and especially in the last couple of weeks, is unprecedented. This post is about a collection that provides historical context to our present day experiences. In earlier times, wildfires, while frequent, were typically smaller, burned less intensely, and were more easily and rapidly extinguished. Photographs and other documentation of fires and fire fighting in Los Angeles in past decades are a part of the San Fernando Valley History digital collection. These materials give us a glimpse into how communities responded to fires in the past as well as help us to understand the increasingly significant impact of climate change.  

Fire stations and fire fighters, both paid and volunteer, have been a critical component of local government infrastructure in the San Fernando Valley for over a century. Valley communities like Burbank, Tujunga, and Woodland Hills established formal Fire Departments by the 1920s and 1930s. As fires frequently broke out in and around the largely undeveloped valley, they sometimes collaborated with US Forest Service fire fighters stationed in the Angeles National Forest to extinguish brush and other fires.

By the 1950s, as housing developments proliferated, frequent fires continued to break out in and around the valley. In an effort to avoid fire's destructive effects on private property and civil infrastructure, fire agencies across California adopted new fire management and public education strategies that focused on fire prevention and suppression. In Burbank, fire fighters visited elementary schools to demonstrate equipment and instruct children about fire prevention. The Burbank Fire Department also installed alarm boxes around the city that could be used to quickly inform fire fighters of new fires in an era before cell phones. To see more images and documentation of past fire management practices, visit the San Fernando Valley History digital collection.

These are unimaginably difficult times for so many in our communities. We will continue to pull together and uplift each other as we rebuild. For the CSUN campus community, please know that assistance is available. On the Fire-Related Information and Resources page you can find emergency information and external resources (including FEMA), a variety of resources for both employees and students, ways to help, and information about CSU System benefits for those impacted by the fires. 

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Post tagged as: special collections, photographs, urban archives, san fernando valley