Firefighters

Burbank firefighters extinguished an attic fire in a two-story home Tuesday morning that prompted police warnings for motorists to steer clear of the area. Firefighters responded to the scene in the 500 block of Standford Road two minutes after a neighbor reported smoke coming from the home at 11:28 a.m., said Burbank Fire Capt. Peter Hendrickson. No one was inside the house at the time. “It didn't take too long to knock it down,” Hendrickson said. Just before 1 p.m., investigators were still on scene tearing down walls to make sure the fire was completely extinguished.

Five soldiers dressed in camouflage and carrying machine guns took cover behind a stack of wooden pallets. One yelled “incoming” and a few seconds later a large explosion ignited behind them, setting off a ball of flame rising 30 feet high. The soldiers fell to the ground from the force of the blast, a concoction of black powder and gasoline. The scene was one of many pyrotechnic stunts performed Thursday at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center for a crowd of Southern California firefighters who were attending a three-day course on how to become a certified motion picture and television safety officer.

Jenna Bordelon SOUTH SAN FERNANDO DISTRICT -- Firefighters were called Tuesday afternoon to rescue a man who had fallen into a flood control channel. The man, whose name was not released, told fire officials he had dropped his lighter over the wash overpass in the 100 block of West Verdugo Avenue and wanted it back. Fire Marshal David Starr said the man apparently lowered himself partly down the side of the wash and fell the rest of the way. Firefighters strapped the man, who appeared to be in his early 50s, to a stretcher and tied the stretcher to a fire truck ladder with rope.

A Sigalert has been issued for what's being described as a small grass fire near the wetbound Ventura (134) Freeway and Victory Boulevard in Burbank. Firefighters from Burbank and Los Angeles were initially sent to the scene. The L.A. fire response has since been called off. There did not appear to be a major disruption to traffic. The Sigalert was issued at 1:32 p.m. [ Updated 1:55 p.m.: The Sigalert has has been canceled after Burbank firefighters handled the call.]

Still fuming over orders to stand in the background of a gubernatorial news conference while brush fires raged around the county, Burbank and Glendale fire departments came out in opposition Thursday to a ballot proposition they claim would stifle their political involvement. If approved by voters in the special Nov. 8 election, Proposition 75 would require unions representing public employees to get permission from members before spending dues for political purposes.

Jenna Bordelon BURBANK -- Burbank firefighters voted openly to approve a tentative one-year contract with the city that would give them an 8.2% salary increase. Firefighters, engineers and fire captains voted 113-0 with two abstentions Dec. 17, 18 and 19 to accept the offer. Increased pay for paramedics and Hazardous Waste Materials response team members were also part of the package. The total cost of the increase in the contract -- which would be retroactive to July 1 -- would be $805,000.

Gretchen Hoffman BURBANK -- As brush fire season picks up with drier-than-usual conditions, local firefighters are being called on to fight blazes across Southern California. The Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena fire departments sent strike teams to fight a fire sweeping across the Angeles National Forest near Santa Clarita on Saturday and Sunday, Burbank Fire Marshal Dave Starr said. On Monday, they were called to send a strike team to a blaze in Orange County, but the team was canceled en route, Glendale Fire Capt.

Firefighters have a blaze that consumed 1,100 acres of brush over four days in the Verdugo Mountains, but not without some help from local businesses and nonprofits, who were called upon to help authorities as they worked around the clock fighting fire. "They're supplying food, sandwiches, anything we need all over the place," said Kirk Wishart, an engineer with Burbank Fire, adding that Wienerschnitzel even hauled a trailer to a firefighter camp to feed personnel.

Good morning, readers. Today is Friday, August 17. Comic book characters are a hot commodity in the film industry. "The Avengers," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and the "Dark Knight Rises" were some of the top-grossing films of 2012 , according to the L.A. Times.  And the Disney/Marvel enterprise has a slew of sequels planned. A big-rig crash near the intersection of the 405 and 101 freeways stalled traffic in Sherman Oaks Thursday evening. Patch The battle over a newly drawn San Fernando Valley Congressional district has left some residents jaded.

FOOTHILLS — Firefighters Wednesday successfully cut off the Station fire’s march toward several foothill communities, lessening the immediate threat to homes and allowing crews to refocus their efforts on other hot spots. The destructive and deadly Station fire slowed down overnight Tuesday, but still consumed about 13,000 more acres, pushing the total so far to 140,150 acres. The fire remained 22% contained as of Wednesday afternoon. PicBits photos of the day “It was staggering to watch this fire climb toward homes at 1 a.m. the other night with a line a firefighters ready to do battle,” Assemblyman Anthony Portantino said at Wednesday’s news conference at the Station fire’s interagency command center at Hansen Dam Park.

Burbank will save $643,000 over the next two years after the City Council this week approved a labor agreement with Burbank firefighters that would require them to pay their full employee pension contribution in return for a 5.5% raise. After three years of negotiations, during which Gov. Jerry Brown enacted a pension reform law to scale back the public cost of paying into the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, the city and the labor group reached a deal, which the council unanimously approved Tuesday.

A 43-year-old Alameda woman has filed a claim against the city claiming that she injured herself when she fell on an ax that was negligently left unattended by Burbank firefighters who responded to an emergency call at a local hotel. The woman, Michelle Russi, was a guest at the Marriott Hotel in Burbank last year when her two daughters got stuck in a hotel elevator because of a problem with a cable on top of the roof, according to the claim. Hotel management called in the Burbank Fire Department.

More than 170 firefighters battled a “major emergency” structure fire at a Valley Village apartment complex Wednesday, authorities said. Firefighters first were called out to the 5200 block of Bellingham Avenue around 10 a.m. for a fire reported in a second-floor unit of a three-story apartment complex. They rescued two residents from a balcony with ladders, officials said in a statement. Few details were available, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Burbank firefighters extinguished an attic fire in a two-story home Tuesday morning that prompted police warnings for motorists to steer clear of the area. Firefighters responded to the scene in the 500 block of Standford Road two minutes after a neighbor reported smoke coming from the home at 11:28 a.m., said Burbank Fire Capt. Peter Hendrickson. No one was inside the house at the time. “It didn't take too long to knock it down,” Hendrickson said. Just before 1 p.m., investigators were still on scene tearing down walls to make sure the fire was completely extinguished.

It took firefighters in Burbank more than three hours Friday morning to knock down a three-alarm fire that destroyed a wholesale cigarette and tobacco business. The fire at Wholesale Giant Inc., at 4410 W. Victory Blvd., was reported at 3:30 a.m., with firefighters from several outside agencies, including Los Angeles and Pasadena, called in to assist. Firefighters had to get out of the burning building when flames extended into the attic and the roof collapsed. Carbon dioxide tanks in the shop reportedly exploded, and butane cigarette lighters began exploding after that.

Five soldiers dressed in camouflage and carrying machine guns took cover behind a stack of wooden pallets. One yelled “incoming” and a few seconds later a large explosion ignited behind them, setting off a ball of flame rising 30 feet high. The soldiers fell to the ground from the force of the blast, a concoction of black powder and gasoline. The scene was one of many pyrotechnic stunts performed Thursday at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center for a crowd of Southern California firefighters who were attending a three-day course on how to become a certified motion picture and television safety officer.

Good morning, readers. Today is Friday, August 17. Comic book characters are a hot commodity in the film industry. "The Avengers," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and the "Dark Knight Rises" were some of the top-grossing films of 2012 , according to the L.A. Times.  And the Disney/Marvel enterprise has a slew of sequels planned. A big-rig crash near the intersection of the 405 and 101 freeways stalled traffic in Sherman Oaks Thursday evening. Patch The battle over a newly drawn San Fernando Valley Congressional district has left some residents jaded.

A Sigalert has been issued for what's being described as a small grass fire near the wetbound Ventura (134) Freeway and Victory Boulevard in Burbank. Firefighters from Burbank and Los Angeles were initially sent to the scene. The L.A. fire response has since been called off. There did not appear to be a major disruption to traffic. The Sigalert was issued at 1:32 p.m. [ Updated 1:55 p.m.: The Sigalert has has been canceled after Burbank firefighters handled the call.]

Burbank Firefighters fired up the first mechanized steamer pump built in the U.S. on Thursday morning to continue testing water hoses. The steamer was originally owned by Los Angeles and at one point used as a prop at Warner Bros. -- Maria Hsin, Times Community News Follow Maria on Twitter and Google+    

Burbank firefighters put out small vegetation fires near the Burbank City Yard facility Wednesday afternoon, after an explosion shut down streets near Lake Street and Olive Avenue, officials said. Burning leaves on the roof of a collision center on the 300 block of South Lake and other small, vegetation fires were doused in about 10 minutes, Capt. Peter Hendrickson said, adding that no substantial damage was reported to the site. At about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, a short in an underground 69,000-volt line caused what officials think was an explosion in an underground vault and blew the cover off a manhole at Olive and Lake, Hendrickson said.