Foul odor reported off Santa Monica Bay; methane from ocean blamed

Coastal residents near Santa Monica awoke to a foul odor Sunday that probably was caused by a large release of methane in the ocean, authorities said.

Fire departments in Los Angeles and Santa Monica began receiving calls shortly after dawn from residents as far north as Sunset Blvd. and south of Venice Beach reporting a rank smell blowing in off Santa Monica Bay.

A Santa Monica fire hazardous-materials team took readings off the coast near San Vicente Blvd. and found methane in the water, said communications officer Justin Walker.

The amounts, however, were too small to be hazardous to health, he said. No illnesses were reported.

Recent shifts in water temperature might have caused plankton and algae beds to bloom, releasing methane just under the surface, Walker said. The gas also might have been produced by a geologic event, such as a shift in tectonic plates, he said.

“We usually have this happen about twice a season,” Walker said. “There’s no special way of telling where or when it will happen. When we were getting south, southeast winds blowing into the city, we’d get the calls, when they shifted westerly, the calls would stop.”

As of midday, readings indicated the methane had dissipated, he said.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District reported no complaints of odors, according to a spokesman, but sent an inspector to investigate.

Last September, air quality officials traced malodorous fumes that besieged the L.A Basin to decaying matter in the Salton Sea, more than 150 miles from Los Angeles. 

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In their words: L.A. mayor candidates answer The Times' questions

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has a good chance of keeping his job if any of the three most prominent candidates for mayor manages to win. But embattled Fire Chief Brian Cummings? Not so much.

When The Times posed a series of questions about major issues facing Los Angeles, those were among the views expressed by the eight candidates to replace termed-out Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In late January, the candidates were given several days to mull what they would say before emailing comments back to the newspaper.

Their answers appear in full on The Times' "Where they stand" page. Readers will find that some are clear and emphatic, and some are carefully hedged. A couple of candidates left questions unanswered. But in a race where the competitors are scrambling to break away from the pack, voters can find a few revealing contrasts.

WHERE THEY STAND: Los Angeles mayoral candidates in their own words

After years of historically low crime rates, City Hall veterans Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry say they would like to see Police Chief Beck serve a second term. Former talk-show host Kevin James flatly says “no,” without explaining why. (In answering another question about public safety, James, the only Republican in the race, takes issue with Beck’s decision to stop impounding the cars of unlicensed drivers, many of whom are illegal immigrants.)

Candidate Emanual Pleitez says he wants to talk with Beck before making any commitment. And Norton Sandler -- a member of the Socialist Workers Party -- advocates abolishing the LAPD altogether, calling it “an instrument of capitalist rule.”

Fire Chief Cummings, meanwhile, draws support only from Councilwoman Perry. She says Cummings “has been straightforward in his dealings with the city, and is doing a great job.” Garcetti, also a council member, and Greuel, the city controller, are less inclined to support the fire chief. Both cite the controversy surrounding his department’s failures to keep accurate emergency response-time data: “I believe confidence needs to be restored in the Fire Department’s management,” Garcetti says.

L.A. ELECTIONS 2013: Sign up for our email newsletter

Other highlights:

Should we keep building a so-called subway to the sea? The candidates deliver an almost unanimous yes.

Former city attorney's home damaged in fire; two taken to hospital

The two-story home of former L.A. City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo was damaged by fire early Saturday, and at least two people were taken to a hospital, according to authorities and local media reports.

The fire was reported about 3 a.m. in the 800 block of Windsor Boulevard, authorities said. Delgadillo said he woke to the sound of smoke alarms and gathered his wife and children, according to KNBC-TV Channel 4.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials confirmed that a fire broke out in the area but would not comment on who owned the home.

Firefighters responded to a structure fire just before 3 a.m., said Erik Scott, a spokesman for the department. When firefighters arrived, smoke was coming from the first floor, he said.

The fire was extinguished in 16 minutes by more than three dozen firefighters, Scott said.

At least two people were ill or injured and taken to a hospital in unknown condition, Scott said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Scott said.

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170 firefighters knock down Valley Village apartment complex fire

More than 170 firefighters have knocked down a “major emergency” structure fire at a Valley Village apartment complex Wednesday, authorities said.

Firefighters first were called out to the 5200 block of Bellingham Avenue around 10 a.m. for a fire reported in a second-floor unit of a three-story apartment complex. They rescued two residents from a balcony with ladders, officials said in a statement.

Few details were available, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

He said paramedics were evaluating people who could be ill or injured at the scene but could not provide details on how many people were being examined or the extent of any injuries.

Humphrey said it was unclear if the fire had spread from the single unit to other parts of the building, but he stressed that the fire was “active.”

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Photo: David Dassa, 76, was evacuated from his apartment in the 5200 block of Bellingham Avenue after fire broke out in a unit on the second floor. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Greuel lays out ambitious plan to hire more police and firefighters

Mayoral hopeful Wendy Greuel laid out an ambitious plan Tuesday to expand the ranks of the Los Angeles police force and city firefighters by about 20% over seven years -- an expensive goal that her critics said was virtually impossible to achieve given the city’s current finances.

Flanked by city firefighters, whose union has endorsed her, Greuel said she had settled on the goal of 12,000 officers -- up from the current level of 10,023 -- based on the suggestion of former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton. She said she would expand crime prevention programs, create a “public safety trust fund” for emergencies and try to improve response times at a time when the fire department staff has dropped from 3,600 to about 3,300 due to budget cuts.

“We can do all of this without raising taxes,” Greuel said at a news conference outside of the firefighter union. “It’s about cutting waste and it’s about setting priorities.”

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

But Greuel’s opponents immediately challenged the feasibility of her plan. The average cost of a city police officer this fiscal year is $149,000, including pension and health benefits -- meaning that the addition of the new police officers alone would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the annual budget.

The city already faces a deficit of nearly $220 million next year, and Greuel did not outline any specific cuts to pay for her plan, beyond her questionable claim that she can wrest $160 million in savings from efficiencies that she has identified through her audits as city controller.

LAFD considers plan to beef up ambulance service for flu season

Fire officials in Los Angeles are considering a plan to beef up ambulance service to deal with expected increases in the number of patients who need to be transported to hospitals if the flu virus wreaks havoc across the region.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that the flu season started early this year, signaling that it could be a bad season for the illness. 

In the Los Angeles region, the virus could hit its peak in February and result in more people calling 911 for help, officials said. More people at hospitals could also result in ambulances being out of service longer while rescue crews wait for patients to be admitted.

The Los Angeles Fire Department is looking at ways to provide up to six more ambulances during peak transport periods, which are normally between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., said Deputy Chief David Yamahata.

"We're gearing up for that potential," he told The Times. 

To provide personnel for the ambulances, the LAFD may temporarily close some of its light forces, which have six firefighters assigned to an aerial ladder truck and a pumper truck. 

Two of those firefighters would staff each reserve ambulance, Yamhata said, and the others would be stationed on fire engines. The light forces would go back in service when the ambulances are shut down for the night.

"We just have to determine at what threshold we would pull the trigger," said Yamahata, who oversees emergency operations for the department.

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Photo: A Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance on skid row in 2009. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times

Residents flee Wilshire Boulevard condo blaze

More than a dozen people fled a four-story condominium fire at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters said.

An elevator and air conditioning unit on the roof of a complex off Wilshire Boulevard and South Rossmore Avenue was on fire and extended into the attic.

Three condos were heavily damaged by the flames, firefighters said.

No one was injured and officials were investigating the cause of the fire.

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Firefighters find hundreds of marijuana plants at North Hills home

Los Angeles firefighters battling a blaze at a North Hills home found hundreds of marijuana plants and a hydroponic growing system to farm the plants, authorities said.

Between 300 and 500 plants were found at the house in the 9100 block of Monogram Avenue about 12:20 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 15 minutes and reported the marijuana plants to police, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. There were no injuries reported from the fire.

A resident of the property has been arrested on suspicion of sales of marijuana, said Sgt. Humberto Najera of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police will obtain a warrant to search and seize any illegal paraphernalia at the house, Najera said.

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Man dies from burns received in possible arson fire, LAPD says

A 69-year-old man has died from severe burns that he received when a possible arson fire tore through a San Pedro motel, police said Wednesday evening.

The blaze raced through the two-story building early Tuesday, forcing one woman to jump from the second story. She received an extremity fracture, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

As flames and smoke engulfed the motel in the 1000 block of Palos Verdes Street, other occupants were ready to jump. But they were rescued by firefighters who had hoisted ladders.

The name of the man who died was not released because relatives had not been notified, the LAPD said.

The cause was being investigated by the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division  and the Los Angeles Fire Department's Arson Section.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Louis Zorilla or Det. Maria Perez at (213) 486-6890. Anonymous tips can be left at (800) 222-8477.

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Photo: Firefighters treat injured vicitms at motel fire. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5.

Compton man arrested on suspicion of arson

A 37-year-old Compton man was arrested after allegedly setting fires to an Inglewood hotel room, scaling the complex’s balconies and threatening to kill himself, authorities said.

Officers responded to a call of suspicious circumstances at a Motel 6 off Century Boulevard about 10 p.m. Friday, said Lt. Neal Cochran of the Inglewood Police Department.

The suspect, identified as Danny Harley, would not respond to officer’s requests to open the door, and had set five small fires in the motel room, authorities said. Harley then went outside onto the balcony of the room and began climbing down the side of the complex, from the seventh to the second floor “like Spider-Man,” Cochran said.

At one point, the suspect, who was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, brandished a knife and threatened to kill himself, Cochran said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department placed a ladder near the second floor, and the suspect made his way to the ground. The suspect was taken into custody about 12:15 a.m.

Harley was arrested on suspicion of arson and is being held in a hospital psychiatric ward.

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