Fire breaks out at Sun Valley ‘hoarder house’

A fire broke out near the property of a Sun Valley home that had previously been flagged by neighbors for its large amounts of trash.

Firefighters were called to a home on West La Tuna Canyon Road just after 11 a.m. Friday for a trash fire. There, crews found a pile of trash and an RV burning in a brush area behind a home, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Fire crews were ultimately able to stop the forward progress of the fire. A hazmat team was called due to impacted lithium-ion batteries at the site following the fire. No injuries were reported in the blaze.

Although LAFD said the cause of the fire is unknown, residents in the area had previously said the amounts of trash on the property have been cause for concern for years.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said two years ago that the city had been aware of issues with the property since 2019. In 2024, Elena Malone, a resident of the community, said she was worried how the home could impact the neighborhood.

“Fires are my biggest concern,” Malone said in 2024. “The last fire on the property – I  was hopefully there and called in the fire department. They were there, and they came very quickly. But they could not access the property with their trucks. They had to carry hoses in by foot.”

People living in a Sun Valley neighborhood want a property cleaned up after they say a neighbor turned a home into a junkyard. Macy Jenkins reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on July 9, 2024.