After days of intermittent rain, a concrete balcony and foundation has fallen from a hillside home in the Hollywood Hills Wednesday, and a related road closure has prompted major traffic backups.
Just before noon, the Los Angeles Fire Department was investigating the situation at 8189 Gould Ave., a home hanging over Laurel Canyon Boulevard, which was in turn shut down.
A 9-yard-square concrete slab that formed part of the home’s foundation and its balcony slid down the hillside, and now there’s fear the rest of the home could follow, said LAFD’s David Ortiz.
“Our belief is that the house is in danger — precarious danger — of falling down on top of vehicles,” Ortiz said.
He acknowledged that thousands of commuters were affected by the resulting road closure.
The home had been red-tagged, he said.
Laurel Canyon Boulevard was closed from Gould Avenue to Kirkwood Drive, blocking a major surface street connection between West Hollywood, Central L.A. and the San Fernando Valley. It’s not clear how long the road will remain closed.
City building inspectors responded, and Fire Department personnel were helping address safety concerns, LAFD’s Margaret Stewart said.
The home was evacuated and no injuries were reported.
The home’s occupants told KTLA they had rented the house for more than three years. They first noticed problems on Tuesday and were staying at a hotel when the slide occurred.
“Yesterday, in the morning … we noticed that the balcony for the lower portion of the house … had sunk about a half an inch, then an inch,” said tenant Brett Copeland. “We had our friend come over to check it out, and he was just like, ‘You’ve got to go. It’s going to go.'”
It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that they realized the situation was a major hazard, Copeland said.
Neighboring homes have been yellow-tagged, meaning their use should be limited, and residents are being told not to go to the rear of their houses.
Real estate information for the address provided by the Fire Department indicates the home is a 640-square-foot, one-bedroom house built in 1926, according to Zillow.com.
#SigAlert #LATraffic #TrafficAlert #Hollywood N Laurel Canyon Blvd is CLOSED from Gould Ave to Kirkwood. Significant traffic back up. AVOID
— LAFD (@LAFD) January 11, 2017