market in Porter Ranch, around 2006 The Porter family acquired part of
Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando in 1874. Porter Ranch community started as a housing tract in the community of Northridge. This was along San Fernando Mission Blvd west of Reseda Blvd circa 1960–1963. Very few homes existed north of Rinaldi Street before 1965. In that year, the area was annexed by the City of Los Angeles. These homes were only accessible via Tampa avenue which is a north-south street. Approximately 50 homes of the original tract were destroyed north of San Fernando Mission Blvd to build
California State Route 118 which runs parallel to and south of Rinaldi street. The new home construction projects that were completed in the Porter Ranch area in the 1990s–2000s, including the Renaissance Summit development, were mired in controversy and Los Angeles politics in the late 1980s and early 1990s. More locally, this combined with the more "nimby" type sentiment of existing and nearby residents of the Porter Ranch area who feared the increased traffic that would be brought by the planned building of an area commercial complex to service the new homes being built. Developments were also criticized for destroying the natural beauty of the brush and wild areas that inhabited the space before the houses were built. However, Shapell Homes, a company founded by
Nathan Shapell, a major Los Angeles builder, brought together powerful Los Angeles political figures to support the new home building. Proponents of the bridge said that there was a "critical need" to build a bridge because "the city of Los Angeles has installed heavy-duty guard rails to stop any vehicle that is out of control as it moves east at Beaufait. There is a much smaller rail 200 feet farther east...however, the first guard rail is usually partially broken because of out-of-control vehicles hitting it. Before it can be repaired, there is almost no protection to prevent a vehicle from falling into Aliso Canyon. Additionally, if a vehicle heading west on Sesnon becomes lost, there is no barrier to prevent it from falling into this deep canyon." Despite the proponents' argument about the severity of the situation, the bridge was never built. There is still evidence of the bridge seen from Sesnon heading east towards the canyon, the road (which is now closed off behind multiple guard rails) is visible heading towards the canyon just short of the bridge, and the counterpart is still visible on the west-bound side.
Aliso Canyon oil well fire A company of Texas oil well firefighters, headed by the legendary
Paul “Red” Adair, came to Oat Mountain and stopped a 1968 blaze after six days.
Gas blowout On October 23, 2015,
Southern California Gas Company workers discovered a leak in one of the over 110 wells at the
Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, about one mile north of homes in Porter Ranch. The
gas blowout began spewing 110,000 pounds of methane per hour. The blowout involved gas stored under pressure in an underground reservoir; the stored gas included mercaptan (
tert-Butylthiol), an
odorant added to the odorless natural gas to produce a "rotten egg" smell for safety. The
California Air Resources Board estimated that the leak increased California's
methane gas emissions by 25%. By order of the Los Angeles County Dept of Health, the company relocated thousands of families from the Porter Ranch area; the
Federal Aviation Administration established a
temporary flight restriction over the leak site until March 2016. and two days later it approved a plan to close two schools in the area. On February 18, 2016, state officials announced that the leak was permanently plugged. On March 12, 2016, Los Angeles County Public Health Department officials say its test of dust in Porter Ranch homes turned up the presence of metals, including barium, that could have caused the kinds of health symptoms some residents have reported experiencing even after the big gas blowout was plugged.
Fires and other major disasters Clampette fire Sept. 25, 1970 this fire made a one-day 20 mile run to the sea in Malibu from Newhall pass. This fire was the most destructive to date both in loss of property and life. One fatality was in Porter Ranch; there were four deaths total. The Porter Ranch death occurred as a homeowner tried to drive up Tampa through the flames to get to his family at the family home above the ridge (near Sesnon). Note that Tampa was abutted by brush on both sides north of Rinadi until you pass the ridge. It merged with two other fires. This event was part one of the event nicknamed "Shake and Bake", a combination of wildfire and earthquake. The fire burned along Rinaldi, crossing Rinadi just west of Reseda Blvd. A hill just northeast of Reseda/Renadi was named Cherry Hill after its grasses caused the hill to glow like a cherry.
1971 Sylmar quake This quake had a major impact on Porter Ranch, on the northwest portion along San Fernando Mission Blvd pools were half emptied, many block walls fell over, the area was without running water for a couple of weeks. Many of the homes floor joists were not bolted to the pylons underneath, causing remediation. A major aftershock was on a fault in Porter Ranch. Note: there were no issues with the Aliso Cyn oil field.
1988 brush fire About 5:00 am a brush fire propelled by 70 mph
Santa Ana winds crossed Aliso Creek and destroyed 13 homes and damaged 23 mostly on Beaufait Avenue. The use of wood roof shingles was blamed for the enhanced level of destruction of the fire. Many residents fended off flames on their house roofs with garden hoses. The fire consumed 3,000 acres and $10 million (1988) in damages.
2019 wildfire On October 10, 2019, the
Saddleridge Fire broke out in the nearby community of Sylmar due to an electrical power line short circuit. Despite efforts to control the fire, the blaze spread to Porter Ranch within a few hours, forcing the entire community to evacuate while burning some of the homes in the eastern part of the neighborhood. During these fires the skies were gray with ashes falling from the sky, and schools were closed for a few days due to the poor air quality and floating debris. ==Geography==