A dozen homes in a Los Angeles suburb were evacuated on Saturday night after the houses appeared to be on the verge of collapse and about to tumble into the canyon behind them.
The foundations of homes situated along Peartree Lane in Rolling Hills Estates in LA County suddenly shifted following a major landslide.
Police, fire and utility company officials were on the scene early on Sunday morning to assist with the evacuation which saw a total of 16 residents being forced to flee their homes.
The residents had 20 minutes to gather their things and get out.
12 homes in the Los Angeles suburb of Rolling Hills were evacuated as they appeared to be on the verge of collapsing into a nearby canyon
Police, fire, and utility company officials were on scene early on Sunday morning to assist with the evacuation of 16 residents who had 20 minutes to grab their things and get out
Residents in the area say they noticed cracking and popping sounds since Thursday
Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Janice Hahn puts her hand to her mouth in shock as she surveys the damage
Hahn was on-site late on Saturday night when news came in of the unstable homes
Hahn, left, is seen speaking with residents who were evacuated from their homes
SoCal Edison shut off power in the area, and Southern California Gas Company crews were called in to make sure no gas lines had been ruptured.
Residents in the area reported that they started hearing cracking and popping noises as early as Thursday. The neighborhood was first built in 1978 and had been solid until this weekend.
‘We thought something was amidst because all through the day and night we heard cracks in the house,’ said one evacuated, Weber Yen. ‘And then, you know, the frequency became more and more frequent.’
By Sunday afternoon, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn said the Peartree Lane were ‘completely destroyed.’
‘This is just devastating for these residents,’ she said.
By Sunday night the homes were essentially destroyed
A tape reads ‘Danger Hazardous Material Do Not Enter’ in front of a collapsed house in Rolling Hills Estates in Los Angeles, California
A collapsed house in Rolling Hills Estates in Los Angeles, California
A large landslide in Rolling Hills Estates this weekend forced the evacuation of 12 houses next to a canyon
The ordeal began when cracks were discovered in one of the homes which then saw crews investigating other nearby structures.
Unfortunately the damage appeared to spread from one home to the next leading to all 12 to be evacuated.
‘They discovered cracks along the structure of one building, and upon further investigation they realized that there were some cracks running through one home specifically, and it was progressing to the next home,’ said LAFD Captain Chiyoshi Hasegawa to KTLA.
‘We got additional specialists to assess the situation, and after assessing the situation we realized there were 12 homes that had received damage either inside of their home or outside of the structure.’
Neighbors and firefighters look on at a collapsed house in Rolling Hills Estates in Los Angeles
Homeowners were left homeless after they were forced to evacuate shortly after a water leak was reported at around4pm on Saturday
Neighbors were left standing in shock after the collapse of 12 homes in the area
Other residents in the area are now concerned more evacuations may be enforced in days
Geologists are now conducting an investigation into what caused the landslide and subsequent collapse
‘I was up actually, most of the night, worrying about what’s going to happen,’ said Mimi Borg to ABC 7. ‘They told us that they would knock on our door if we had to be evacuated.’
One woman who lives in the street but whose home is not affected because it sits on the side opposite the canyon, explained how she was woken up by all the commotion and sirens on Sunday morning.
‘I was sleeping…[I woke up to] a lot of noises and fire trucks, I was very concerned,’ she said. ‘Then I was up most of the night worrying about what’s going to happen.
‘My home is fine; we are on the ocean side…it’s the canyon side that’s having the problems. They told us they were not going to [evacuate us] if they didn’t need to,’ she added.
No injuries were reported in the landslide. Geologists are now on site conducting an investigation into what caused the landslide.
