In November 1933, wildfires raged through the San Gabriel Mountains above the Crescenta Valley. In late December, a series of storms dropped 12 inches of rain. On New Year's Eve, heavy rains led to sporadic flooding. Around midnight, mountain hillsides collapsed sending millions of tons of mud into the Crescenta Valley neighborhoods below. More than 400 homes were destroyed in La Cañada, La Crescenta, Montrose and Tujunga. Scores of people were killed, and hundreds were left homeless.
