Firefighters and police officers cordoned off the 1900 block of North Wilcox Avenue while the hillside and buildings were secured. (photo by Edwin Folven)

A garden hose that was left on in a swimming pool in the backyard of a Hollywood Hills home overflowed the pool and destabilized a hillside on Sept. 19, causing a small landslide that threatened buildings on Wilcox Avenue.

The landslide was reported around 2 p.m. at 1925 N. Wilcox Ave., just south of the Hollywood (101) Freeway. Concerned it could cause buildings to collapse at the bottom of the hill, the Los Angeles Fire Department cordoned off Wilcox Avenue north of Franklin Avenue. Residents at an apartment building and workers at a construction site at the bottom of the hill were temporarily evacuated while firefighters and inspectors from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety determined the extent of damage.

Authorities located the running garden hose at a residence on Grace Drive, above the area where the hillside collapsed, and drained the pool. It was undetermined how long the hose had been left on, LAFD spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz said.

The evacuation was lifted by 5 p.m. Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety inspectors red-tagged the backyard area around the swimming pool and the rear of a building that is under construction at the bottom of the hillside that collapsed, Lantz said. No estimate of damage or loss was available. The property owner is liable for damages.