Over a decade after the devastation of the Sayre Fire in 2008, the second most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, the Oakridge Mobile Park Association in Sylmar is strengthening its preparedness in case of another wildfire.
The fire hardest hit the well-manicured community, with 480 of the 600 manufactured homes reduced to rubble.
At the time, LA Fire Department Captain Steve Ruda described the scene as “an absolute firestorm” with 50-foot high flames.
Last weekend, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez held an emergency wildfire preparedness event at the Oakridge Mobile Park Association with MySafe:LA and the LA Fire Department (LAFD).
The event featured LAFD wildland fire engines, drone demonstrations, home hardening education and defensible space education.
MySafe:LA and the LAFD are now working to help Oakridge Mobile Homes become a California Fire Safe Council entity. This distinction would help the community apply for grants to aid with wildfire prevention activities and education.
In 2009, Oakridge began to rebuild, with the last new home delivered just a month ago.
Kim Galvan, a resident of Oakridge and the realtor who recently sold the final home in the neighborhood, said the new manufactured homes are constructed to be more fire-resistant. They now use a Hardie Board material for the outside of the units – a fiber cement siding composed of cement, sand and cellulose fibers.
“It allows the occupant up to 15 extra minutes to get out,” said Galvan. “The fire department actually has said that you would die from what’s inside the house before you would die from what’s outside the house burning down.”
Galvan also mentioned that the ventilation system is now constructed to prevent the quick spread of a fire in the community.
“When the older homes went up [in flames], it created these tornadoes under the home, which has been rectified in the way that they’re now built,” said Galvan.
She added that although some people moved after the Sayre Fire, many of the original occupants rebuilt and moved back into the community.
“This community is very tight-knit,” said Galvan. “We really do look out for one another.”
