Hillside Home Survived Palisades Fire Only to Be Split in Half by Landslide: ‘Devastating’

One home in the Pacific Palisades that narrowly survived the Palisades Fire was then split in half by a landslide on Thursday, Jan. 16, per KTLA, Los Angeles Times and KRON 4.

The 1,000-square-foot, single-family home split in two due to water runoff from the continuing firefight. It was one of 12,300 structures destroyed by the Palisades and Eaton Fires. The home, on the 17000 block of Castellammare Drive, was likely impacted after the home just above it burned to the ground, triggering the mudslide.

Bryan Kirkwood was hired to provide security for the few surviving homes and told KTLA that the recent incident is “devastating.”

“I didn’t realize it was this bad,” Kirkwood said. “I didn’t see the news, got out here and looked and it didn’t hit me until now. Wow. This is a big deal.”

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power first inspected the area and isolated the water main on Castellammare Drive on Sunday, Jan. 12, per an agency statement, the Los Angeles Times reported. The agency then returned on Thursday, Jan. 16 and discovered the home had split and slid onto the road.

“Upon inspection, it appears that the home above it, which had been destroyed in the fire, had collapsed onto it which also resulted in damage to LADWP’s water service line and buried the meter and curb valve, resulting in more water flow,” according to the statement, per the Los Angeles Times. The crews diverted the water away from the collapsed house so it could flow out of the water main instead.

A representative for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Friday.

Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella confirmed that the agency and the California Department of Transportation are working to support areas where the fires burned and the damaged soil is fragile. “We are developing plans for both areas to capture and hold this debris back as much as we can during a rain event,” Pestrella said, per the Los Angeles Times.

“There are mud and debris flow hazards that are existing even when it’s not raining, so we want people to be very careful,” Pestrella said.

LAFD Captain Erik Scott said that the L.A. fire department is also monitoring other Pacific Palisades and Malibu properties for any landslide damage. “It’s safe to say that the infrastructure under thousands of homes have been compromised. And with that, can come challenges like this — if it’s on a steep hillside,” Scott said, per the Los Angeles Times.

The mudslide and fragile soil follow the destructive Palisades Fire which first began on Tuesday, Jan. 7. It has since burned more than 23,700 acres with 39% containment, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Additionally, on the other side of L.A. County, the Eaton Fire also began on Tuesday, Jan. 7 and has already burned more than 14,000 acres and is now 65% contained.