Mt Washington Fire Entrapment Fatality 1930

Hugh Avery, an Arizonan 20-year-old visiting Southern California, volunteered to suppress a brush fire near the home of a friend. The fire ignited in the afternoon of July 16 and quickly spread through brush towards homes. Avery worked to suppress the fire before the fire department arrived, but was overcome by a flare up in unburned brush and badly burned. He attempted to jump through the flaming wall when he was injured. The man was taken to the hospital in Pasadena but succumbed to his injuries that night. The fire department quickly controlled the fire.