Overflowing swimming pool causes Hollywood hillside collapse
Overflowing pool triggers hillside collapse
Eight apartment units were evacuated after an overflowing pool put pressure on a retaining wall, causing a partial hill collapse.
LOS ANGELES - An overflowing swimming pool caused a partial hillside collapse in Hollywood, sending cinder blocks through the roof of a lower building and triggering the temporary evacuation of eight apartment units.
What we know:
Emergency crews initially responded to reports of flooding and a partial slope failure in the 1900 block of North Wilcox Avenue Friday afternoon. Officials discovered the instability was caused by an unattended hose that was filling a swimming pool.
The pool overflowed, saturating the ground and putting pressure on a retaining wall.
"It was approximately 7,000 gallons, so we hooked up our siphon injectors, which pulled out the water in about 90 minutes. It was approximately 56,000 pounds of water that we pulled from that pool because that was weighing on that ground below," said LAFD Capt. Milo Cope.
Building damage and red tags
The pressure from the water caused cinder blocks from a retaining wall to break off and crash onto a building underneath it.
"The building below is damaged. Cinder blocks from that retaining wall have broken off, fallen down under the building below and gone through the roof of the building, below," Cope added.
The building below was vacant and no one was inside.
City officials red-tagged the vacant damaged building as well as the swimming pool area.
Eight apartment units on Grace Avenue were initially evacuated over concerns the structure could come down the hillside. Following an assessment by city engineers, officials determined the apartment building was stable and in no danger of collapsing.
The evacuation order has since been lifted, and residents have been allowed to return to their homes.
The Source: Information for this story came from the Los Angeles Fire Department.