California Home That Avoided Being Destroyed by Wildfires Is Split in Half by Landslide

A Pacific Palisades, CA, home miraculously survived a deadly wildfire that tore through the upscale oceanside community, only to be split in half by a landslide a week later.

Striking photos show the light-blue home overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the 17400 block of Castellammare Drive cleaved in two, but showing no signs of fire damage.

It is believed that water used by firefighters to extinguish a blaze up a hill directly above the doomed house weakened the soil to the point that it came crashing down, bringing a cascade of sodden debris from another damaged home with it. 

“This is devastating. I didn’t realize it was this bad,” Bryan Kirkwood, who was hired as a private security guard by some local residents, told KTLA. 

The 1,005-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath rental property was listed on Realtor.com® for $14,000 per month.

The house, described as an “exclusive villa with panoramic, ocean views from every room,” was built in 1952 but redesigned in 2021 to include a private outdoor shower and steam shower, a Jacuzzi, a fire pit, and an outdoor grill.

It was not immediately clear when the destructive landslide that knocked down the rental home happened. 

“It’s safe to say that the infrastructure under thousands of homes has been compromised,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott told NBC Los Angeles. “With that can come challenges like this if the home is on a steep hillside.”

Scott added that the department was in the process of mapping properties that could be at risk of collapse.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he warned. “We’re going to have to deal with rains and mudslides that come.”

Landslides threaten homes in fire zones

Further land and mudslides remain a concern, especially if the region sees rain in the coming days or weeks.   

Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said his agency is working with the California Department of Transportation to try to bolster areas where the fires burned and the soil is unstable.

“To address this, we are developing plans for both areas to capture and hold this debris back as much as we can during a rain event,” Pestrella said on Thursday. “No matter where you live in L.A. County, if you have slopes behind your homes or you’re located on top of a slope, these slopes have become fragile.”

Wildfires still burning after more than a week

More than a week after a string of wind-driven wildfires ignited in and around Los Angeles, the two biggest infernos–the Palisades and Eaton fires–continued to sow destruction on Friday, as emergency crews worked to contain the flames, while beginning to deal with the monumental recovery task.

Just under 40,700 acres of land have been scorched by the blazes, and more than 12,300 structures, including many homes, have been destroyed, according to the latest information from Cal Fire. 

The Palisades fire that annihilated the exclusive, star-studded L.A. enclave of Pacific Palisades, was just 27% contained 10 days after first igniting. 

The Eaton fire, which destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena and the surrounding communities, was 55% contained.  

So far, the historic natural disaster in California has claimed at least 27 lives, and a further 31 people were still missing.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that 24 of the unaccounted for residents were from the Eaton fire and seven from the Palisades fire. 

Crews and cadaver dogs that have been combing through the devastated areas block by block so far have unearthed human remains at 13 locations associated with the missing persons, but the victims were yet to be identified. 

One thing is certain: The tens of thousands of people who had fled the fires last week won’t be going home anytime soon. 

Cleanup and recovery get underway

People desperate to return to their neighborhoods to check on their homes and apartments have been pleading with police at checkpoints set up in impacted areas to let them through but were being turned away. 

Officials said they understand the residents’ mounting frustration, but they asked for patience during the recovery and cleanup process, which will entail removing debris laced with asbestos and other toxic substances, according to the Associated Press. 

It is estimated that it will be a week or more before residents can access their homes. 

“The properties have been damaged beyond belief,” Public Works Director Pestrella said in a press briefing. “They are full of sediment, debris, silt, and hazardous materials.”

In light of the health risks, Los Angeles County on Thursday put a ban on any cleanup efforts or removal of debris until the completion of a hazardous materials inspection.

The federal government already has earmarked $100 million to remove paint, cleaners, asbestos, batteries, and other household waste from the rubble before crews can begin carting away debris.

Realtor.com is partnering with the REALTORS® Relief Foundation to raise funds to support victims of the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. The foundation provides urgent housing-related assistance to homeowners affected by disasters.