On Christmas Day, three Beverly Hills businesses situated very close to the headquarters of what many consider the finest fire department in the United States were destroyed by fire.

A vital and substantial part of the Golden Triangle was destroyed, three important businesses were lost and at least 100 people lost their jobs.

This is to explain just what happened to Porta Via Restaurant, Tesoro gift shop and Umberto beauty salon. There is a sign on Dan Deutsch Optical Outlook located immediately north of Porta Via that says “we are closed due to fire” but I have not confirmed that its closure is due to the Christmas day fire.

Most importantly in my view, this is to address what can be done to prevent this tragedy from happening to other Beverly

Hills businesses or residents. The good news is that BHFD, spearheaded by our world class Fire Marshal, Trevor Richmond, is working flat out to implement preventative measures. But first, some background.

The City retained Rappaport Consulting to determine the origin and cause of the Christmas Day fire. Rappaport has finalized and released its report. The details that I relate are from that report. I have no reason to believe that the report is incorrect in any material way. Undoubtedly there will be other reports from the businesses affected or their insurance carriers but I anticipate that they will not vary substantially from the City’s report.

The Rappaport report concludes that the origin of the fire was the Porta Via kitchen and it was caused by spontaneous combustion of greasy rags used for cleaning that were left on a food preparation table in the kitchen. Fire Marshal Richmond told me: “I fully support the conclusions of the Rappaport report and see no other rational explanation for the origin or cause of this fire.” The timeline of events is very revealing as follows: 11:28pm on December 24, 2025: the last Porta Via employees left and no one entered or exited the building after 11:30p until BHFD arrived more than six hours later. 12:10a on December 25, 2025: Porta

Via camera in kitchen records smoke in the kitchen. [All other times listed below are on the early morning of December 25.] 12:14a: Porta Via camera first records flames in the kitchen. Thereafter the camera records fire growth and extension throughout the kitchen.

Time unknown to me: the overnight cleaning crew that normally comes in to clean Porta Via did not because it was Christmas.

At all times, the view of the restaurant from Canon Drive or the sidewalk on the west side of Canon Drive was blocked by the opaque materials covering the outdoor seating area. 4:46a: Porta Via camera records that smoke had increased and the fire had spread to cardboard on the floor. 4:50a: Porta Via camera records that flames were visible in the kitchen, bar and dining area; a cooking hood extinguisher did not extinguish the fire because its nozzles were aimed at the grill cook line, not at the prep line where the fire was burning. 5:45a: Wallis Theatre employee smelled burning odor and then saw fire through the roof at Porta Via and called 911; 5:48a: BHFD arrived – less than three minutes after they were called BUT five hours after the fire started – and found smoke and flames through the roof.

BHFD promptly controlled and extinguished the fire but by the time that they arrived the building and businesses were destroyed. I am informed that the building(s) will likely be demolished.

The Rappaport conclusions were that the origin of the fire was in the kitchen of Porta Via and it was caused by combustible materials – cleaning rags – placed on the upper surface of a commercial refrigerated food preparation table.”

Importantly, the report states that there was no monitored security or fire alarm system for the restaurant and there was no automated fire sprinkler system in the building; there was no fire alarm system, no burglar alarm and no sprinkler system.

Quite apart from the details, it seems uncontroverted and undeniable that smoke and fire erupted in a building in the heart of the Golden Triangle and smoldered and grew for over five hours before BHFD was notified.

How could this be? Why were there no sprinklers in a restaurant? Why were there no monitored smoke or fire alarms?

The short answer appears to be that neither the California Fire Code and the Beverly Hills Municipal Code do not require those things for existing restaurants or other buildings that are less than 3000 square feet or allow occupancy by fewer than 300 people. And Porta Via apparently was smaller than 3000 square feet and its maximum permissible occupancy was fewer than 300 people. For new buildings or existing buildings undergoing substantial renovations, sprinklers are required.

But all or at least most restaurants involve cooking, whether or not they are smaller than these thresholds. And were there is cooking, there is a potential for a fire to get out of control. Oily rags are capable of causing fires. People make mistakes.

For this reason, Fire Marshal Richmond is in the process of recommending changes both on the code side and on the public education side. On the code side, he is evaluating the most up to date devices for ensuring that BHFD is notified immediately in the event of a fire. He will then draft proposed language for revisions to the BH Fire Code. He anticipates that he will submit a draft to Fire Chief Greg Barton by late February. Then it will go to City Attorney Larry Wiener and then

City Council. Fire Marshal Richmond says that his greatest fear is for a fire that starts in a ground floor restaurant in a mixed use building with many apartments on the upper floors. At least, we can be thankful that the Canon Drive fire did not cause any injuries or deaths.

Tara Riceberg, the owner of the Tesoro gift shop, favors changes to these rules and more. “We must be sure that this doesn’t happen again. If I had to lose my business, it had best be in service of others.

I think all commercial businesses should be required at least to have connected and monitored fire alarms and smoke detectors”, she said. She points out also that iPads have batteries that could burst into flames and they are likely used in every business, not just restaurants.

It seems to me that monitored sprinkler systems should be required for all existing restaurants whether or not they are larger than the current thresholds. Further, there may be a way to modify the outdoor seating area covers that many restaurants offer so that they do not obscure visibility and thus enhance the prospect that passersby can observe issues that may require attention.

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Two prominent long-time Beverly Hills residents passed away in the past few weeks.

Robbie Anderson, the great-grandson of the founder of the Beverly Hills Hotel, was the President of The Rotary Club of Beverly Hills and the author of “Beverly Hills: The First 100 Years” which is the definitive history of our City. Robbie was instrumental in the creation of the Beverly Hills Sign and Lily Pond in Beverly Gardens Park.

Mimi Alpert Feldman was my gracious and glamorous next door neighbor on Alta Drive for fifteen years. Mimi was the widow of Leon Feldman and sister of

Herb Alpert and reached the magic age of 99 years old. She established the Mimi

Alpert Feldman Scholarship in 1977. The scholarship has been awarded to more than 100 outstanding students, to help them complete their degrees and excel in the world of professional music.

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Brian Goldsmith, the Beverly Hills resident who is a candidate for our District 24 California State Senate seat, has been enthusiastically endorsed by former First Lady, Secretary of State and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton. Brian worked on Senator Clinton’s 2000 campaign for U.S. Senator from New York