Fire Damages 4 Houses in Porter Ranch

A fire gutted a house in the Porter Ranch area Monday, then was quickly spread by hot, dry winds to the roofs of three adjacent houses and nearby trees and brush before finally being controlled, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.

There were no injuries, but the fire caused an estimated $225,000 in damage to houses in the 10800 block of Melvin Avenue before being extinguished in about an hour by firefighters on the ground and in water-dropping helicopters, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said.

Some residents, used to the danger of fire spreading from house to house on the wind-swept hillsides, took to their roofs with hoses or quickly turned on sprinkler systems to guard against the spread of flames.

John Ratcliff, who lives next to the house where the fire started, said spot fires were started by flying embers on his wood shingle roof but he climbed onto the roof and doused the blazes with a hose.

“I was up there putting out the hot spots and the fire kind of went over my house,” he said. “It was definitely a firestorm.”

After firefighters arrived, they also helped hose down Ratcliff’s roof.

The fire started inside the home of Sohoeil Rabbani, where an elderly woman was at home, but the cause is still under investigation, firefighters said. When the fire broke out about 11:15 a.m., neighbors ran to the house and helped the woman to safety.

The fire completely engulfed the house and burned away the roof. Meanwhile, Santa Ana winds carried burning embers through the neighborhood, landing on the three other houses and igniting palm trees and brush.

About 50 firefighters and three helicopters battled the fire, Wells said.

In December, 1988, a wind-whipped fire burned through a Porter Ranch neighborhood, damaging or destroying 40 houses, most of them with wood shingle roofs.

Ratcliff, a 16-year-resident of Melvin Avenue, said he has often climbed onto his roof with a hose when nearby fires threatened. On Monday, with the origin of the fire right next door, Ratcliff said it was a close call.

“If I wasn’t up there, I would have lost the house,” he said. Ratcliff, whose hair was singed during his stand against the fire, had the help of a roommate and friend who hosed down bushes in his yard when the shrubs caught fire.

Arlene Wong, who lives across the street from the house where the fire started, said fire is always a threat in the neighborhood.

“You have winds come through here all the time,” she said. “All you do is worry.”