Man Found Dead at Hillside House Fire in Hollywood Hills West

One man was discovered dead inside a burning hillside home Wednesday evening in the Kirkwood Bowl neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was first notified by a 9-1-1 caller at 4:43 PM on November 27, 2024, of a structure fire at 8551 Lookout Mountain Avenue in the Hollywood Hills West area.

LAFD Firefighters arrived quickly to find fire showing from a small two-story ascending hillside residence nestled in dense vegetation atop a long narrow stairway.

With concern for the intense fire spreading into flammable brush and closely clustered homes among narrow streets in an area historically endangered by wildfire, additional firefighters were immediately summoned to the firefight, as well as a trio of LAFD firefighting helicopters.

Utilizing teamwork to overcome the logistically challenging terrain, firefighters forced entry into the burning residence to encounter excessive personal storage and stubborn flames.

A well coordinated offense by forty-five ground based LAFD firefighters under the command of Assistant Chief Luis Aldana, confined flames within the structure of origin, extinguishing the blaze in just 33 minutes.

Though LAFD helicopters proved beneficial in aerial reconnaissance and command support, they were not required to tackle the flames.

In their systematic search inside the burned premises, firefighters discovered the body of an elder male, who was determined to be deceased at the scene.

No other injuries were reported.

The Mayor's Crisis Response Team was requested by Chief Aldana to provide on-site emotional support and recovery resources to the victim's relatives and neighbors.

The presence of legally mandated smoke alarms and their functional status at the time of the fire could not be immediately determined. The 87-year-old home was not equipped with optional residential fire sprinklers.

A positive identification of the deceased man, as well as the specific cause, time and manner of his death will be determined by the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner.

The cause of the fire remains the focus of an active joint investigation by Los Angeles Police and Fire Department investigators.