STUDIO CITY—The Toluca Lake pumpkin festival officially re-opened for business this week after a fire destroyed a large portion of the themed attraction on October 16. Amy Bastman of the Los Angeles Fire Department stated on Monday, October 16, “a fire was reported at the pumpkin lot on the corner of Cahuenga Boulevard and Riverside Drive near the 101 Freeway off-ramp at around 1:55 p.m.”
Thirty-one firefighters responded to the emergency and extinguished the blaze within 24 minutes. The popular annual pumpkin festival is run by the Toluca Lake Florist and features a haunted maze, pumpkin patch and petting zoo in the parking lot behind the florist’s main building on Riverside Drive in the Toluca Lake neighborhood.
No injuries were reported to people or animals during the incident. A public report from the scene stated that, “firefighters kept the flames from spreading to the florist’s building on the property, but much of the pumpkin patch and maze were destroyed by the flames.”
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department indicated in a statement that there was no immediate word on what sparked the flames, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The owners of the pumpkin festival reported to the Canyon News that the attraction has officially been re-opened to the public. The pumpkin patch and petting zoo will continue its scheduled run through Halloween, but the haunted maze will remain closed due to fire damage for the remainder of the season. Operating hours for the pumpkin festival are from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. everyday from now though October 31.
