Burned area 16,900 acres Injuries 112 (est.) | Land use Residential, wildlands Fatalities 0 | |
Location Bel Air, Los Angeles, California Date(s) November 5–8, 1961 (PDT) | ||
The Bel Air Fire was a disaster that began as a brush fire on November 5, 1961 in the Bel Air community of Los Angeles. 484 homes were destroyed and 16,090 acres were burned. The fire was fueled by a strong Santa Ana wind condition.
Given the exclusive neighborhood's location in Los Angeles, there were multiple celebrities directly affected by the fire. Actors Burt Lancaster, Joan Fontaine, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, comedian Joe E. Brown, Nobel laureate chemist Willard Libby and composer Lukas Foss all lost homes from the fire. Others that fought flames before they evacuated were then-former Vice President Richard Nixon, actor Robert Taylor, film producer Keith Daniels and singer Billy Vaughn.
Aftermath
As a direct result of the Bel Air Fire, Los Angeles initiated a series of laws and fire safety policies. These included the banning of wood shingle roofs in new construction and one of the most stringent brush clearance policies in the United States.
The Los Angeles City Fire Department produced a documentary, "Design For Disaster", about the wildfire, narrated by William Conrad.