Ceremony Honors 12 Killed in Wildfire

Three decades after the Loop Fire that killed a dozen members of the El Cariso Hotshots fire crew in a canyon above Sylmar, the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles’ county and city fire departments on Friday commemorated the firefighters’ deaths with a stone memorial.

The granite monument at El Cariso Regional Park in Sylmar, named for the 12 members of the elite El Cariso Hotshots who perished in the blaze, honors the victims of that fire and wild-land firefighters everywhere.

At 5:19 a.m. on Nov. 1, 1966, a faulty distribution line started the Loop Fire, aided by gusty Santa Ana winds of up to 60 mph that chased the flames up the canyon. The fire killed 10 crewmen instantly. Two others died later from massive third-degree burns.

Greg Greenhoe, deputy fire management officer of the U.S. Forest Service, said many changes in firefighting techniques came about after the Loop Fire. A stringent checklist for constructing fire lines downhill was the No. 1 lesson learned to protect firefighters.

Six years after the blaze, fireproof protective clothing replaced the treated cotton shirts and jeans of the past, Greenhoe said. Now firefighters have fire shelters, shrouds and other gear to minimize the risks.

Critical debriefing is another important element that has evolved in the years following the Loop Fire. Counselors and chaplains now available to help firefighters when tragedy strikes were virtually unheard of prior to the Vietnam War.

“In the old days, this wasn’t offered . . .You were a tough man. You stuck it out,” said Dianne Cahir, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. But, she said, “Everybody deals with grief in different ways.”

Three decades after the tragedy, the Loop Fire still offers valuable lessons.

“Even though it took 12 lives, it has saved many more since then,” Greenhoe said.