Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-13
FIRE DAMAGES
ARROYO SECO
TWO THOUSAND ACRES OF
FOREST BURNED
Pasadena Watershed Injured by Blaze
Which Rages for Nearly Ten
Hours-Three Houses Go
Up in Smoke

.. Up IN omOke
one Of the most dangerous fires ever
started in the Arroyo Seco began at s
o'clock yesterday morning or shortly
afteR and was only extingushed at
4;3O O'clock in the afternoon. The fire
started ebout a quarter of a mile above
La Canada bridge over the arroyo,
and burned west and north over the
first range of hills. At It's widest point
the flames had devoured forest and
grass for a width of about half a mile.
All that prevented the spread of the
flames to the east bank of the arroyo
was the direction of the wind. Had
the fire ever crossed over 1t might have
done untold damage to the joint plants
of the Pasadena Lake Vineyard Land
and Water company and the Pasadena,
Land and Water company These joint
plants, owned by the two companies,
supply nine-tenths of all the people in
Pasadena and their destruction would
have meant water famine through
out the city.
en. Applied for Help
Almost from the start 1t. was seen
that the fire was to be a frightful one,
and the water company telephones
were used to summon aid from Pasa-
dena. The first call for help did not
bring to the scene enough. men, and a
second appeal was made.
Still having insufficient fire fighters,
| the Pasadena board of trade, was ap-
pealed to, and President A. j. Ber-
| tonneau in turn called up II. r.. Hunt
| ington and asked his assistance Mr..
Huntington responded at once to the
appeal, and within an hour after he
H.. I.N~ Iro1 %. H.s. e-ln
| of his workmen were speeding from
the various construction camps to the
| DEVILS Gate district, where the fire
was raging The Salt Lake line, which
has a spur track directly, along the
arroyo, furnished a special train to-
bring those workmen to the scene of
| the, great fire.
AS soon as the laborers appeared
they reported to, Ranger Beague.
| Beague took them in charge and
showed them how to stamp out the
flames with shovels, with which they
were equipped He also set part of
the men at work backfiring.
Flames Threaten Camp
The last stand was made at the ridge
which blocks the mouth of Switzer's
canyon. If the flames had ever passed
this point the whole mountain side,
including Switzer's camp where thou
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pended, would have been prey to the
| fire demon.
| Smoke begrimed. nearly stifled with
| the heat and fumes from the fire, the
laborers and about a hundred volun-
| teer workers made their battle for the
mountain at this point. For hours the
fight hung in, the balance, but in the
end the work of the men counted, and
little by little the flames were extin-
guished.
In counting UP the damage it is hard
| to tell just how much land was burned
over and how many acres are de-
vastated by the fire. An irregular
strip extending from = quarter of a
mile above Devils Gate to the ridge
at the mouth of Switzer's canyon was
| burned over, and at IS widest part
this sprip was fully half mile in
width. Some estimates of the de-
vastated area are as high as 1000 acres.
The greatest damage was to the water
shed. This section of the country is
kept as closely wooded as possible, as
the water which goes into the natural
reservoir north of Devils Gate perco-
lates through the soil here and runs
down against the submerged dam,
where it is held to keep the great wells
supplied.
Three Houses Burned
In the course of the flames were sew
stances these houses went up in smoke.
The best houses destroyed belonged to
William Hoffman, a carpenter en-
ployed at Oak Knoll. His house and a
house belonging to ]. F. Mullens were
both burned to the ground. An old
man named Boucher also lost his
small ranch residence.
The home of Mrs. S. H. Ellis very
pretty house. was only saved by a
seeming miracle The fire burned near
ly to this house on all sides, but the
resolute workers saved the dwelling
from the flames. Mrs. S. H. Ellis owns
a ranch on La Canyada road, though
she is a resident of Los Angeles, and
she succeeded in so directing the men
who were striving to save her house
that the fire was there turned to one
side and the handsome property es-
capped. Mrs. Ellis personally stood on
the fire fighting line and worked with
the others.
One of the most remarkable features
of the fire was the enormous number
of wild animals driven out from cover.
One party of men killed with clubs
over 300 rabbits driven by the flames
from the shelters of their burrows,
flushed by the fire and the birds could
have easily been shot had any felt so
disposed.
The poor animals seemed utterly be-
wildered by the fire and in hundreds
of instances rabbits and other small
beasts dashed back into the burning
brush and were almost instantly killed.
The fire had gained remarkable head
way before 1t was discovered this
morning. How it originated will in all
probability never be known. 1t had
been burninS for about an hour when
it was first noticed, and at that time
was beyond control. 1t is probable
that a carelessly tossed match went
into the grass beside La Canyada road
and did the mischief.
THIS GIRL IS A CLEVER THIEF
Wearing Male Attire. for Months She |