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45-754: The Simi Fire was a devastating 2003 wildfire that burned 108,204 acres (438 km) of land in the Simi Hills and southeastern Simi Valley in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County , in the U.S. state of California . The Simi Fire was one of multiple large, fast-moving, and destructive wildfires in Southern California in October 2003, in a fire siege that included the Cedar , Old , and Grand Prix fires. The Simi Fire resulted in no fatalities but did cause 21 injuries. The cause of

90-467: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate , abbreviated Csa on climate maps. The 2000 U.S. census counted 53,227 residents in the 4.35-square-mile (11.3 km ) Canoga Park neighborhood —or 12,240 people per square mile, about an average population density for the city. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 60,578. In 2000, the median age for residents was 30, also about average for city and county neighborhoods. The neighborhood

135-634: A crucial wildlife corridor to the Santa Susanas, has been proposed for public open space parkland after the closed site's cleanup completion. The population of red-legged frogs is small and isolated, and was impacted by the Woolsey Fire swept through the area in November 2018. The Simi Hills were inhabited for over 8,000 years by Paleo-indians and Chumash-Venturaño Native Americans for settlements and hunting grounds. The Chumash had

180-427: A former Litton Industries , later Northrop Grumman , industrial site revealed unsafe levels of toxic chemicals on the site; 2007 tests further revealed that toxins had spread to an area beyond the site. In 2021, a petition for a class action against Northrop Grumman on behalf of affected residents was filed. The petition sought monetary compensation for losses in property value and called on Northrop Grumman to mitigate

225-404: A land grant for the separate and historically rich Rancho El Escorpión was issued by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash people , Odón Eusebia, his brother-in-law Urbano, and Urbano's son Mañuel. It was located in the area west of Fallbrook Avenue and later called Platt Ranch. In 1863, the syndicate San Fernando Homestead Association led by Isaac Lankershim and Isaac Van Nuys purchased

270-824: A movie/television studio, and a stunt location. The Canoga Park Airstrip occupied the area now known as "Warner Center" (as shown on the street map 1955 Thomas Guide). In 1955, Rocketdyne , then a division of North American Aviation (NAA), moved into the area and built its main manufacturing facility in Canoga Park. The facility became a major employer along with the Atomics International and Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) divisions of NAA. Other aerospace companies followed: including Thompson Ramo Wooldridge-TRW , Hughes Aircraft , Rockwell International , Boeing , and Teledyne . Small machine shops and other ancillary businesses also sprang up to service

315-500: A result of the Simi Fire and others burning concurrently. Simi Hills The Simi Hills are aligned east-west and run for 26 miles (42 km), and average around 7 mi (11 km) north-south. The Simi Hills are part of the central Transverse Ranges System. They lie almost entirely within southeastern Ventura County , with some southern and eastern foothills within western Los Angeles County . The Simi Hills are on

360-727: A sales tactic in that the town would be the new mouth of the Owens River, after the Los Angeles Aqueduct would be completed the next year. The town was founded on March 30, 1912, and the Suburban Home Company contracted with the Janss Investment Company , to sell properties. A pre-development scheme brought Pacific Electric streetcars and an all purpose highway (Sherman Way) out all the way from Hollywood through Cahuenga Pass , through

405-769: A significant WPA mural by Western artist Maynard Dixon . The Los Angeles Public Library operates the Canoga Park Branch Library at 20939 Sherman Way . Canoga Park is located within California's 46th State Assembly district represented by Democrat Jesse Gabriel and California's 27th State Senate district represented by Democrat Henry Stern . Canoga Park is located within Los Angeles City Council District 3 represented by Bob Blumenfield . Eighteen percent of Canoga Park residents age 25 and older had earned

450-516: A very small community. The lack of an independent water supply made annexation to the City of Los Angeles inevitable, and on February 26, 1917, it joined with its larger neighbor. The name was changed to Canoga Park in 1931, thanks to the efforts of local civic leader Mary Logan Orcutt. Eventually, the area's zoning was rural/agricultural and its industry was small farms involved in the production of fruits, vegetables, and melons, some livestock, horses,

495-413: Is also an important member of the native plant habitat community here. The Simi Hills is the principal, and much wider, of only two terrestrial wildlife corridors linking the coastal Santa Monica Mountains with the inland Santa Susana Mountains , Topatopa Mountains , and San Gabriel Mountains , all of the transverse ranges fauna community. The Simi Hills are a critical wildlife corridor linkage for

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540-577: Is the headquarters of electronic provider Electro Rent . Los Angeles Police Department Topanga Community Police Station serves residents in Canoga Park, parts of Winnetka, West Hills , and Woodland Hills. The Topanga Community Police Station opened in January 2009. The police department named the station after a village in the Tongva language of the historically local Tongva-Fernandeño Native Americans tribe. The department originally planned to name it

585-729: The Los Angeles River . They traded with the north Valley Tataviam-Fernandeño people. Native American civilizations inhabited the Valley for an estimated 8,000 years. Their culture left the Burro Flats Painted Cave nearby. From 1797 to 1846, the area was part of Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). After the Mexican War of Independence from Spain the 'future Canoga Park' land became part of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando . In 1845,

630-584: The Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) for open-air testing of rocket engines from 1947 to 1990, and the site of experimental nuclear reactor experiments with four nuclear accidents between 1959 and 1969; these projects and accidents were declassified in 1989. The first accident, in 1959, was the most serious with a full meltdown. The extent of the accident is unknown due to instrument limitations, other than that it released extensive radiation. More radiation

675-492: The evergreen coastal live oak ( Quercus agrifolia ), the deciduous valley oak ( Quercus lobata ), and the scrub oak ( Quercus dumosa ). Riparian zone plants include California sycamores ( Platanus racemosa ) and arroyo willows ( Salix lasiolepis ). Spring wildflowers include the redbush monkey flower ( Mimulus aurantiacus ), Plummer's mariposa lily ( Calochortus plummerae ), and canyon sunflower ( Encelia californica ). poison oak ( Toxicodendron diversilobum )

720-563: The Conejo Valley. The Simi Hills further block these winds, which bring cool weather in both summer and winter from the San Fernando Valley . The southern lower hills are mostly covered in grasslands and oak savanna. The northern rocky hills area is primarily chaparral shrubland and oak woodlands . The Simi Hills are part of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion . The oaks ( Quercus spp. ) include:

765-628: The Los Angeles River, and several are considered year round creeks. Although the creeks are now channeled and run within concrete walls, they do form a significant urban wildlife landscape and contribute to the population of indigenous wildlife left within the San Fernando Valley. This area experiences hot and very dry summers. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Canoga Park has

810-923: The Northwest Station, but residents preferred a name linking to the town's history. Prior to the opening of the Topanga station, the Devonshire Community Police Station served addresses north of Roscoe Boulevard while the West Valley Police Station served addresses south of Roscoe Boulevard. The United States Postal Service operates the Canoga Park Post Office at 8201 Canoga Avenue and the Challenger Post Office at 21801 Sherman Way . Challenger Station maintains

855-812: The Santa Monica Mountains to these and other Transverse Ranges further east. The undeveloped native habitat provides routes that protect larger land wildlife of the Santa Monicas from genetic isolation. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a proposed vegetated overpass spanning the Ventura Freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills, California . Large sections of the Simi Hills are protected by parks and open space preserves. The Santa Susana Field Laboratory property,

900-667: The Simi Hills typically experience rainy , mild winters. Snow is rare in the Simi Hills, even in the highest areas. Summers are warm and dry and wildfires do occur here. Cool winds from the Pacific Ocean come from the Oxnard Plain and blow into the inland areas through the Santa Clara River Valley and the Conejo Valley , though some low hills, such as Conejo Mountain , block these winds from

945-465: The Simi Hills. In the first half of the 20th century, there were four large movie ranches in the Simi Hills for filming motion pictures on location. The gated community of Bell Canyon began development of geographic Bell Canyon in the 1968. To the north of U.S. 101 , east of Thousand Oaks , and west of Simi Valley the early 1960s suburban expansion of metropolitan Los Angeles brought the development of small to significantly sized parcels of land in

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990-563: The Simi Hills. Hillside subdivisions regraded natural contours into terraced lots, changing the Hills viewshed, drainage patterns, and habitats in those areas. The extensive planned new community projects at Jordan Ranch and Ahmanson Ranch were eventually stopped by local citizens and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy keeping extensive Hills acreage natural in open space parks. The Simi Hills were home of

1035-909: The Simi Hills. The cities of Thousand Oaks (to the west) and Simi Valley city (to the north) are in the hills and adjacent valleys within Ventura County. The two nearby mountain ranges are: the higher Santa Susana Mountains adjacent on the northeast across Santa Susana Pass ; and the Santa Monica Mountains running nearby along the south. The hills provide the complete or partial watersheds for several year-round creeks and numerous seasonal streams. They include Las Virgenes Creek (tributary of Malibu Creek ), Moore's Canyon Creek, Bell Creek , Dayton Creek, Woolsey Canyon Creek, Brandeis Creek, Runkle Canyon Creek, Arroyo Simi , Palo Comado Creek, Cheeseboro Creek, and Arroyo Calabasas (northern fork). Bell Creek and Arroyo Calabasas are

1080-534: The Workman Ranch. In time, they spread through the Canoga Park area ranches, farms and beyond. It has been said that these trees are the parents of all eucalyptus trees in Southern California. The entire south San Fernando Valley, from Roscoe Boulevard south to the hills, with certain exceptions, were to be subdivided in anticipation of the Los Angeles aqueduct 's completion in 1913. The purchasers of

1125-461: The aerospace industry. The Rocketdyne facility was in the end operated by Aerojet Rocketdyne , who moved out of Canoga Park in 2014. Demolition and site clearing of the former Rocketdyne facility in Canoga Park commenced in August 2016. The Santa Susana Field Lab property has also been closed and will be undergoing an extensive environmental cleanup, and become an open-space park. In 1987, much of

1170-727: The balance of the natural world. Upstream were healing springs and are rock outcrop 'grinding stones.' The Burro Flats Painted Cave , an example of the Rock art of the Chumash people , is nearby. The Juan Bautista de Anza expedition passed through the area in 1769, being the first European sighting of the Simi Hills. The U.S. National Park Service administers the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail which enters at Moore Canyon in El Escorpión Park and crosses across

1215-676: The contamination, alleging that the chemicals had leaked from the site and contaminated groundwater under 3,200 properties in an area about 2.4 miles long and 1.8 miles wide and that the corporation failed to properly contain or remediate the damage after it acquired the site in 2001. The corporation argued that they had complied with the California State Water Resources Control Board and that the Board had approved their actions. A June 2024 report on soil vapor and groundwater inspections conducted near

1260-486: The east. Bell and Dayton Creeks flowing from the Simi Hills , and Arroyo Calabasas (Calabasas Creek) from the Santa Monica Mountains are several of the headwaters of the Los Angeles River that originate in the western San Fernando Valley that flow through Canoga Park. The Los Angeles River itself begins at the confluence of Calabasas Creek and Bell Creek behind Canoga Park High School . These and other small creeks supply stormwater and suburban runoff water to

1305-458: The established village of Hu'wam in Cañon del Escorpión (Bell Canyon). It was a multicultural 'crossroads' destination, where Chumash, Tongva , and Tataviam peoples traded and lived beside Bell Creek below Escorpión Peak , at the present day Bell Canyon Park . This peak in the Simi Hills (aka: Castle Peak) is one of nine alignment points in Chumash territory and is essential to maintaining

1350-546: The fire remains unknown. At its peak, the Simi Fire burned up to 10,000 acres an hour. It threatened the major foothill communities of Porter Ranch and Chatsworth after crossing from Ventura County into Los Angeles County. The fire threatened homes near Stevenson Ranch , though it burned none. It also forced the closure of the Golden State Freeway ( Interstate 5 ) for more than 2.5 hours on October 29 as fire crews successfully worked to prevent it from jumping

1395-466: The freeway north of California State Route 14 , near Santa Clarita . By the night of October 30, the Simi Fire was 40% contained. That number jumped to 85% by the night of October 31. The fire was declared 100% contained on November 1 when precipitation moved into the area and aided firefighters. The governor of California Gray Davis declared a state of emergency in Ventura and Los Angeles counties as

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1440-489: The headwaters of the Los Angeles River , by name its beginning with their confluence in nearby Canoga Park . 90% of the Santa Susana Field Lab property drains into the Los Angeles River via tributaries. Peaks in this region include Simi Peak , 2,403 ft (732 m), Chatsworth Peak , 2,314 ft (700 m), and Escorpión Peak (aka: Castle Peak), 1,475 ft (450 m). Because of its low elevation,

1485-651: The land included Harry Chandler and Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times , Moses Sherman (a Los Angeles Pacific Railroad streetcar line builder), and Hobart Johnstone Whitley , an all purpose real estate developer who, from a start in the Land Rush of 1889 in Oklahoma to platting out 140 towns, including Hollywood . The area was originally named Owensmouth by Los Angeles Suburban Home Company by general manager Hobart Johnstone Whitley as

1530-404: The previously subdivided Van Nuys (1911). Highlighting the "opening day barbecue" was the display of the "Owensmouth Baby", a racecar that could go up and down the paved Sherman Way at the incredible speed of 35 mph. Owensmouth, as the junior San Fernando Valley city to Van Nuys, promoted itself with the "baby" motif—using storks in their advertisement. The "baby city" of the Valley remained

1575-648: The range. The Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor is in the planning stages and includes the Simi Hills open space parklands and proposed new areas. Canoga Park, California Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California . Before the Mexican–American War , the district was part of a rancho , and after the American victory it

1620-406: The report and responded about 7,000 individuals in residences and businesses within 500 feet of the site were notified. The Board also reported that they had notified some 4,000 Canoga Park residents about exposure to toxic chemicals from the former Litton Industries site. Canoga Park is bordered by Woodland Hills on the south, West Hills on the west, Chatsworth on the north, and Winnetka on

1665-476: The southern Hills through Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve and Cheeseboro/Palo Comado Canyon Park to the Conejo Valley . In 1845 the land grant for Rancho El Escorpión , beside the Peak and named for it, was issued to one Chumash and two Tongva people and a rare instance of Native Americans being grantees, by Mexican Governor Pío Pico . The Rancho El Conejo was to the west, and included that end of

1710-474: The southern half of the historic San Fernando Valley . They established seven wheat ranch operations and were the first to ship wheat to Europe from California. In 1869, Alfred Workman acquired the westernmost ranch, a 13,000 acres (50 km ) wheat farm in future Canoga Park (for more: See Landmarks section below) . Eucalyptus trees were introduced into the San Fernando Valley by Albert Workman, who imported seedlings from his native Australia and planted them on

1755-634: The vacant Rocketdyne site, delivered to the California State Water Resources Control Board on behalf of RTX Corporation , reported levels of toxic cleaning solvents that were above levels that could pose a threat to the environment and human health. According to the LA Times in August, several residents of apartments which had been inspected reported that they were not notified of the testing nor of test results. The Water Board confirmed that they were reviewing

1800-455: The western district of Canoga Park was renamed West Hills . On June 25, 2005, Canoga Park was named an All-America City . The use of toxic chemicals like trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethene were used as cleaning solvents during production by aerospace and defense contractor companies in their Canoga Park industrial facilities led to groundwater pollution on their sites and across the neighborhood. Since 2003, environmental testing on

1845-489: The western edge of the San Fernando Valley . The Simi Valley lies to the north, and the Conejo Valley lies to the southwest. The San Fernando Valley communities of Chatsworth , West Hills , and Woodland Hills are in the eastern hills and adjacent valley floor in Los Angeles city and county . The cities of Agoura Hills and Westlake Village are also located in Los Angeles County, generally southwest of

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1890-437: Was $ 51,601, considered average for the city. Renters occupied 63.6% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 36.4%. The average household size of three people was average for Los Angeles. The 18.1% of families headed by single parents was also average for city neighborhoods. The percentage of residents aged 19 to 34 was among the county's highest, as was the percentage of never-married men (40.4%). Canoga Park

1935-465: Was considered "highly diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles. The breakdown was 50.9% Latino ; 30.7% White ; 11.1% Asian ; 4.3% Black ; and 3.1% other. Mexico (45.8%) and El Salvador (11.6%) were the most common places of birth for the 42.8% of the residents who were born abroad—which was about an average percentage for Los Angeles as a whole. The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars

1980-482: Was converted into wheat farms and then subdivided, with part of it named Owensmouth as a town founded in 1912. It joined Los Angeles in 1917 and was renamed Canoga Park on March 1, 1931, after Canoga, New York . The area of present-day Canoga Park was the homeland of Native Americans in the Tongva-Fernandeño and Chumash-Venturaño tribes, that lived in the Simi Hills and along to the tributaries of

2025-529: Was released in the 1959 event than in the Three Mile Island accident 20 years later. The groundwater under portions of the Simi Hills, contaminated with toxins and radionuclides that were also historically used at SSFL, has been and is a key concern in new development decisions and the SSFL property's future limited to parkland use after an impending cleanup, initiating preservation of more open space in

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