Although the wildfires ripping through Los Angeles have not hit Brentwood — a wealthy enclave a few miles east of the Palisades that is home to A-list celebrities such as Tom Brady, Travis Scott and LeBron James — the security checkpoint at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Kenter Avenue, on the eastern edge of the evacuation zone, was especially tight Tuesday afternoon.
Journalists who ordinarily have access to pass through were told by National Guard officers they would have to head to the next checkpoint. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department, who often allow residents to return home and retrieve clothing and food, were telling people they would have to come back another day.
The reason for this was not officially stated, but that didn’t stop people from speculating, because a few blocks north of the checkpoint, just inside the evacuation zone, stood a four-bedroom house owned by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.
On Sunday, two people had been detained after police discovered them near Ms. Harris and Mr. Emhoff’s property. According to a report by KTLA, a television station in Los Angeles, a call was placed to 9-1-1 around 4:40 a.m. from someone nearby, saying that a potential burglary was in progress. L.A.P.D. officers discovered two people in the area and detained them for breaking curfew. The individuals, whose names have not been made public, were released after the police did not find evidence that a crime had been in progress.
Ms. Harris was not there at the time. Instead, she was in Washington, where she had stayed after attending the funeral of the former president Jimmy Carter last Thursday. Over the weekend, she posted clips of herself meeting with Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles on a video call.
When news of the potential burglary broke, some were surprised to learn that Ms. Harris lives in Southern California, as her political ascent in the state had taken place largely in the Bay Area, where she was a prosecutor in Alameda County and served as the district attorney of San Francisco.
But in 2013, when she was serving as the Attorney General of California, Ms. Harris was set up on a blind date with Mr. Emhoff, a Los Angeles-based corporate lawyer with clients in the entertainment business. They were married a year later.
Mr. Emhoff purchased the Brentwood house they shared in 2012, for $2.7 million. After he married Ms. Harris, the Brentwood home was placed into a joint trust. Property records show they now own it together.
Many village residents said Mr. Emhoff was a regular in the area.
Hilda Bayanfar, who lives on nearby Bundy Drive, said she had spotted Mr. Emhoff getting coffee, while others encountered him climbing the Santa Monica Stairs, a wood- and-concrete step path descending from Adelaide Drive in Santa Monica to Entrada Drive in Los Angeles.
Among a dozen people interviewed for this article on Tuesday, none have come face to face with Ms. Harris, despite her having taken numerous trips to Los Angeles during her time as Vice President. But thanks to her Secret Service detail, they do usually know she is in town.
Steve Glikbarg grew up on Homewood Road, a block away from Ms. Harris’s home, in a house where his 98-year-old mother still lives. He said that when Ms. Harris was in town, Secret Service agents stationed themselves in front of his family’s home to make sure no one cut through the backyard.
“Sometimes, we bring them cookies,” he said.