EUBANKS AND FRIENDS THANK FIREFIGHTERS WITH A CONCERT.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

``Tonight Show'' musical director Kevin Eubanks is saying a musical thank-you to the firefighters who saved his home last month when a wildfire raced across hills and canyons in Chatsworth and Bell Canyon.

Eubanks and fellow musicians from the late-night TV show will play a special invitation-only concert today at Pierce College for Los Angeles and Ventura County firefighters and other law-enforcement officials who were among about 3,000 workers battling the Topanga blaze.

The day of the fire, Eubanks, who also plays guitar in the band, was at NBC's Burbank studios, taping ``The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,'' and was driving home to Bell Canyon in the early evening of Sept. 28 when he hit the Ventura Freeway and saw plumes of smoke coming from the Chatsworth area.

``Traffic was backed up, and by the time I got there, they'd already evacuated the neighborhood,'' Eubanks said Tuesday. ``All I wanted was to get my guitars, but I couldn't get near the house. So I went to a hotel and started watching the news on TV and recognized some of the terrain near my house where I hike. I said, 'This doesn't look good.' ''

As many as 600 people were chased from their homes by the fire, and many spent the night at Red Cross shelters. The fire burned nearly 17,000 acres on the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties before it was contained. Three houses were destroyed, and one firefighter suffered a minor injury.

``The firefighters did an incredible job protecting the homes, even as the fire burned around some of the houses,'' he said. ``It was amazing to see these guys working. It's scary sitting in a hotel watching that happen. When I went back, I could see all the brush that was burned - just 30 seconds away from my house.''

After he was allowed to return home, Eubanks bantered with Leno about the fire, saying how much he'd like to personally thank the officials on the scene of the wildfire.

``There were others on the show who were affected by the fire, too, so we wanted to express our thanks,'' Eubanks said. ``I wanted them to know I would be happy to do something for them.''

Today's concert for firefighters will feature Eubanks' ``Tonight Show'' band. Will ``Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'' be one of the tunes?

``No, but we'll probably do something equally appropriate.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

``There were others on the show who were affected by the fire, too, so we wanted to express our thanks,'' says ``Tonight Show'' musical director Kevin Eubanks.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images