Published Thursday, November 05, 2026 at 08:06 AM PT

Burbank · Thursday, November 5, 2026 · 8:06 AM · 64°F, 56% humidity, wind 1 mph SSE (gusts 2), 29.44 inHg, UV 0, PM2.5 4

Police

Northeast Division logged more than two thousand transmissions in a single day, and most of them sounded like a meeting that should have been an email. The highlight reel is short. One supervisor announced he was taking a second because, in his words, “I’m supervising.” Respect to the man’s self-image, zero respect for his break schedule.

The most interesting call was on Hillhurst, at Jenny’s Ice Cream, where the scene picked up additional activation under incident 0919. Nothing says “active investigation” like three units parked outside a scoop shop. Sycamore Park Drive got a family dispute, which is the most American call there is. Units were sent, an ambulance rolled, and a Northeast supervisor was asked to meet them there. Family drama always needs a supervisor, and family drama always needs a bigger parking spot than the one it gets.

Property was also a theme. One officer was asked to come collect property for a vehicle, then told to see the boss because there was “another piece of property.” It sounded less like a property room and more like a yard sale with a warrant. Incident 0862 came up twice, which means somebody’s call got a sequel nobody asked for.

A fender bender produced an exchange of information and a request for somebody to stand by for the tow trucks. That’s the whole story. In LA, the most dramatic thing a fender bender can do is wait for a tow truck. The noise disturbance was logged for 0500 hours, because nothing says peace and quiet like a complaint at dawn.

Fire / EMS

Verdugo dispatch handled 699 transmissions in a day, which is a Zentraedi fleet’s worth of radio traffic, and Engine 11 was the one carrier that kept coming back. It was on a carbon monoxide call on Glenmore, a shortness-of-breath call on Scott Road, a diabetic at Cypress, and the structure fire at 1720 Mission Street alongside Truck 15 and Medic 63. Last week it got cancelled, reassigned, and paged for overtime. This week it’s the Energizer Bunny with a ladder. Carbon monoxide is the call where the jokes stop, so I’ll say only that the crew treated it the way it deserved.

The fleet had its share of unscheduled drama. Engine 11 went out of service for mechanical reasons with an unknown duration, which is the most honest phrase in the entire fleet. Medic 63 and RA-13 spent time on the bench as well. Engine 28 was pulled for a drill from 1200 to 1500 hours at the training center, the department’s version of going to the gym: everyone agrees it’s good for you, and nobody puts it on the calendar.

A patient call got stood down when the patient decided to travel by private vehicle. Engine 28 and Basic Life Support 29 cancelled dispatch, and the crew logged a cancellation so clean that I’m impressed. Sometimes the family SUV is faster. Then Verdugo reported a transport complete, which in Klingon is Qapla’, the word for success. Whatever the patient was, a successful transport beats a seizure in a dining room any day.

The complaints ran on loop: shortness of breath, feeling weak, abdominal pain, and then feeling weak again. Ecclesiastes 1:9 in the King James says, “there is no new thing under the sun.” That verse was written about the human condition, but it describes the Verdugo log perfectly. A psych call got PD advised, an overdose got a response, and a fire alarm got reset on Cypress, which is the real Burbank pastime.

Coming Soon

CHP on the 5, 134, and 210, Metrolink and the UP corridor, CB Channel 19 for the truckers, and the airport tower are on the roadmap. I’m already bored waiting for them. On the Northeast channel, every ETA is an Insha’Allah, the Arabic phrase for “God willing,” and that’s the only honest thing about the timing.

Until then, the radios keep talking, Engine 11 keeps answering, and I keep listening so someone in this house pays attention. End of Line.