Early Thursday morning, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) crews faced a challenging situation as a fire ignited in an underground tunnel beneath a parking lot at the Sepulveda Basin Sports Complex in Encino, FOXLA reported. The blaze, which began around 5:40 a.m. near Oxnard Street and Lasaine Avenue, elicited concerns regarding the structural integrity of the parking lot, which is situated close to baseball fields and a park.
Firefighters were summoned to the scene upon a report of the fire situated in a drainage tunnel underpass, and they discovered heavy smoke billowing from deep within the concrete structure, investigators suspecting that a homeless encampment inside the tunnel may have started the fire, heavy smoke emanated from the blaze which was confined to the tunnel LAFD's Heavy Equipment Operators responded with specialist robotic firefighting tools, KTLA disclosed. Given the tunnel's difficult access, the LAFD utilized a remote-controlled suppression unit, known as Thermite RS3 or RS-3, which can deploy both water and foam to douse the flames from afar.
Residents in the vicinity, including those in Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, and Encino, may have noticed a distinct, heavy petroleum-like odor in the air. The cause, as FOXLA explains, is due to creosote—a wood preservative distilled from coal tar and used on the timber that supports the parking lot—burning during the fire.
Concerns have also been raised by the community, particularly around the Encino-Sherman Oaks Girls Softball field, as residents reported this isn't the first fire related to the local homeless encampments, “This is probably the third fire we’ve had in the last 12 months,” Peter Dulay revealed to KTLA, who detailed consecutive issues including break-ins and theft at the league alongside the recurring fires, the city tries relocating the encampments but the issue persists as the transients return within weeks, Dulay mentioned growing concerns for the safety of children and student-athletes who frequent the area.
In response to the incident, Mayor Karen Bass expressed her gratitude to the firefighters for their prompt action, stating, "I thank the brave firefighters who were on the scene quickly to keep the surrounding neighborhoods safe," as obtained by the official statement. She also emphasized ongoing efforts to address challenges in the Sepulveda Basin, including a decrease in fire-related calls and removal of debris and vegetation that pose fire risks, asserting ongoing outreach to address homelessness.
The efforts to extinguish the fire and evaluate the damage continue, with no injuries reported thus far. The work involves the removal of debris from the tunnel entry and ensuring the area is structurally safe for use, as captured by IG post photographs shared by LAFD, featured on Instagram.
