Evacuations Ordered After Huge Landslide Destroys Home In SFV

SHERMAN OAKS, CA — A massive landslide destroyed one home under construction in Sherman Oaks and threatened several others Wednesday.

Likely triggered by February's historic rainfall, a hillside gave way in the early morning hours, creating a cavernous trough winding through the neighborhood. At least two homes have been evacuated and several others were affected. A deluge of mud and debris inundated multiple backyards in the area.

A pool and tennis court in the backyard of one home are now teetering over a massive cavern that opened up. By mid-morning, the land movement had stopped and firefighters were hopeful that evacuated residents could return home.

Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters responded at 2:51 a.m. to 3741 N. Ventura Canyon Ave. to a report of a large tree and wires down in the backyard of a residence. When they arrived, however, crews found that a large portion of the hillside had slid down toward at least three homes, said LAFD spokesman Nicholas Prange.

The slide also came dangerously close to two other homes, both of which were evacuated. Fire officials said a total of three people were evacuated from the two homes. A fourth home was also being closely watched, but was not immediately evacuated.

“One of the homes actually had their swimming pool damaged and basically almost exploded,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Weireter told KTLA.

The city Department of Building and Safety was contacted and was accessing the integrity of all the impacted structures and hillsides. The cause of the landslide remains under evactuation.

The destroyed structure was red-tagged as unsuitable for habitation. The two others were yellow-tagged, allowing only limited access for residents to retrieve belongings.

Neighbors said the home that was destroyed had been undergoing renovations for a long time, and was thankfully vacant when the slide occurred. Fire officials said no injuries have been reported.

Last month, hundreds of mudslides affected neighborhoods in the foothills and canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills.

Landslides have continued to occur in recent weeks following the devastating storms that inundated the region earlier this year, dumping record amounts of rain.

Earlier this week, a landslide forced the closure of Pacific Coast Highway near Big Rock in Malibu. Crews later cleared enough of the road for two lanes of southbound traffic and one lane of northbound traffic. A separate slide has forced the indefinite closure of Topanga Canyon Boulevard from PCH to Grand View Drive.

Another stretch of PCH north of Corral Canyon Road is restricted to one lane of traffic due to a slide that occurred in February.

City News Service and Patch Staffer contribute to this report.