Mill Fire of 1975 – Flames Tear Through Neighborhoods

The Mill Fire started small up in the mountains but Santa Ana winds fanned the flames to an inferno and by Sunday, Nov. 23 the fire line had reached Tujunga and La Crescenta. In the early morning hours of Monday, Nov. 24, the flames came down through what is today Deukmejian Park and licked at the homes on the other side of Markridge Road at Boston Avenue. At 3 a.m. the wind and flames slackened and firefighters began to pull out, thinking they had beat the fire on this front.

But just after 4 a.m. the Santa Anas roared back to life. Gusts of 65 mph hit the receding flames and they spiraled high into the air. Each gust laid the flames down in gigantic orange sheets on the houses across Markridge. Several houses immediately exploded with fire. The roar of the flames could be heard for blocks.

It was instant pandemonium. Police cars tore through the streets and officers screamed into their loudspeakers, “Evacuate your homes immediately!” The near horizontal flames were touching some roofs and bypassing others. Two houses on New York Avenue, two on Cloudcrest Road and four on Rimhill Road were completely engulfed in flames. A reporter standing at Santa Carlotta Street and Maryland Avenue reported that from that vantage point it appeared that the entire neighborhood from Markridge to Santa Carlotta would be lost. Looking to the east he could see the same thing happening in Pinecrest.

It was chaos. It was black and flaming embers were coming down like rain. Quite a few homes were burning and firemen simply broke down doors and windows to get at the fires. Many residents had not evacuated this area. They were frantically piling into their cars that in most cases had already been loaded up to flee. Fire units that had left only an hour ago streamed back in. The Glendale PD enacted a strict mandatory evacuation, including ordering those watering their roofs to get down and leave. Some refused. Firefighters here and in Pinecrest fought furiously for their ground and gained the upper hand. They were tenacious.

Monday morning the flames traveled quickly eastward, across the top of Pinecrest, heading toward Goss Canyon and Briggs Terrace. But massive amounts of fire personnel were there to meet the flames. More resources were pouring in from all over the western states until approximately 4,000 men were on hand to fight this fire. As daylight arrived 15 air tankers joined the battle and the helicopters began their rounds. By that Monday night the flames had reached Ocean View Boulevard, but the fire crews had saved almost all structures between Goss Canyon and Ocean View.

On Tuesday another major blaze broke out in the Mt. Baldy area, straining the firefighting resources. On Tuesday as well the Tujunga side of the fire flared under fresh Santa Anas. The mountains on the north side of Big Tujunga burned, heading across westward towards Lake View Terrace. By Tuesday evening, wind blew the flames down to homes along Foothill Boulevard, but they were saved by setting backfires. Flames traveled across the wash and threatened homes on Oro Vista Avenue. The fire continued west, making it all the way to Little Tujunga Canyon.

On Wednesday, the winds and the fire calmed but the thousands of firefighters stayed on alert or performed mop-up operations. That day some 5,600 residents who had evacuated returned to their homes, most to find them intact but smelling of smoke. Some returned to partially burned homes and, in a few cases, just a shell with maybe a chimney still standing. Crescenta Valley High School remained closed as it was the base for the Red Cross.

The next day would be Thanksgiving and indeed valley residents were thankful. As intense as this fire had been, miraculously there was no loss of life and the most serious injury was a firefighter’s broken leg. Thanksgiving Day dawned to a slight drizzle, which largely finished off any hidden embers. And when Friday dawned clear and cold, a light dusting of snow, not ash, capped the San Gabriels.

Next week, some stories from the fire.

  mike lawler