Fire and Flood in 1889 A confounding aspect of our natural ecology in the Crescenta Valley is the overlap of fire season and flood season that happens at this time of year. Our fire season extends from late summer well into December (and sometimes beyond) while our flood season begins in November with our first […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – A Rescue During the Mill Fire I’ve written before about how the members of the Montrose Search and Rescue team (MSAR) often are called during natural disasters. Such was the case during 1975’s Mill Fire. This story comes from MSAR team member Fred Koegler, a team member in 1975 […]
Mill Fire of 1975 – The Community Helped Each Other Through all the images of fear and destruction from the Mill Fire of 1975 there were some funny sights as well. A llama peacefully grazed on the lawn of one La Crescenta house, having been evacuated from its fire-threatened home. A photo that made […]
Mill Fire of 1975 – Stories of Panic, Loss and Resolve This fire was traumatic for residents of the valley. There was a lot of fear, but also a lot of bravery and resolve to rebuild. The local paper, The Ledger, recorded several stories, which I’ll relate here. The Klines had been the first […]
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 […]
Mill Fire of 1975 – The Fire First Touches La Crescenta Last week we heard about how the Mill Fire started high up in the Angeles Forest on Saturday, Nov. 22. On Sunday, pushed by Santa Ana winds, it burned through Big Tujunga Canyon. By Sunday afternoon it was climbing the backside of Mt. […]
Mill Fire of 1975 – The Beginning One of the most memorable fires in the Crescenta Valley, second only to the Station Fire of 2009, was the Mill Fire that took place Nov. 23-24, 1975. It was Santa Ana wind-driven, and quickly consumed 47,000 acres. It destroyed some 11 homes, nine here in the […]
President Clinton Had Lunch at Rocky Cola Café You may have heard this legend, and yes, it’s true. In 1996, then President Bill Clinton, on a campaign tour for his second term in office, stopped for lunch at Montrose’s favorite restaurant, Rocky Cola Café, located at 2201 Honolulu. In June of 1996, President Clinton […]
The Messy Story of Water and Cityhood in CV “Whiskey is for drinking; Water is for fighting over.” This humorous quote, of unknown origin but usually mis-attributed to Mark Twain, has been a maxim for development in the western states. It’s certainly true here in the Crescenta Valley. We’re geographically one valley, but the […]
The Community Responds For Two Lost Boys in 1946 Spoiler alert – this is a sad one! We often look back nostalgically on the early years of the valley when kids here lived an unrestricted “Huck Finn” lifestyle. They could roam the hills and canyons, explore the old abandoned mines, and swim and fish in […]