A Pacific Palisades home that narrowly escaped a fire that swept through the community was heavily damaged by a landslide this week.
Photos of the wreckage showed the single-family home completely split in half. The nearly 1,000-square-foot home was listed for rent on Zillow last year.
said Brian Kirkwood, who was hired to provide security for homes that survived the fire KTLA Perhaps the landslide originated from a house located above.
“It's devastating. I didn't realize it was this bad,” Kirkwood told the station. “I didn't watch the news, I came out and it didn't hit me until now. Wow. It's a big deal.
Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Bestrella said the California Department of Transportation is working with the California Department of Transportation to try to improve fire-prone and soil-fragile areas.
“To address this, we are developing plans for both areas to capture as much of this debris as we can during a rain event,” Bestrella said during a news conference Thursday.
Landslides can be triggered by rain — or, in this case, water from a long gunfight — saturating weak or loose soil, causing it to slide downhill.
“No matter where you live in L.A. County, if you have slopes behind your houses or if you're located on a slope, these slopes have become fragile,” Bestrella said. “The soil that supports your house [has] All are fragile and damaged, due to the events we encountered, including the wind. Even when it's not raining there are risks of mud and debris flows, so we want people to be extra careful.
Times staff writer Grace Toohey contributed to this report.