Brush fire erupts in the Hollywood Hills
By Tony Barboza, Andrew Blankstein and Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writers
5:51 PM PDT, March 30, 2007
A brush fire erupted this afternoon in the Hollywood Hills near the Oakwood apartment complex, darkening the sky with thick plumes of smoke visible through much of the city.
At least five helicopters and about 200 firefighters rushed to battle the blaze, reported about 12:50 p.m. around the 3600 block of Barham Boulevard, near Universal City, said Ron Myers of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Two teenage males from Illinois suspected of setting the fire turned themselves in to authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference. A witness observed the teens, ages 16 and 17, starting the fire, he said.
"They were old enough to know what they were doing," the mayor said.
Fire officials said at an earlier news conference that they will send arson investigators to probe the cause of the blaze, which burned at least 150 acres by 4 p.m.
For more than 90 minutes, the fire chewed through thick, dry vegetation, threatening apartments, the Warner Bros. Studios, even the iconic Hollywood Sign.
But by around 3 p.m., Myers said it appeared that officials had made significant progress.
"Fortunately, right now, it looks like the fire is turning in our favor and we're very happy about that," Myers said. "We do not have full containment of the fire at this time; however, we are gaining the upper hand, it appears."
Although freeways remained open, the smoke could have an effect on tonight's rush-hour commute. Some local streets were shut to help firefighters.
Given the record lack of rain, fire officials said they feared today's fire was just the first of what will likely be a series of brush fires around Southern California.
Initially, today's fire threatened the Oakwood, often used by aspiring entertainers as a temporary home while they sought their fortune.
The flames came within 50 feet of the parts of the Oakwood parking lot. Apartment maintenance workers helped wet down the hillside while managers switched on sprinklers on the roofs of the apartment buildings and on the hillside.
Many residents stood in the parking lot watching the blaze. Some shot video, others snapped photos.
Two students from the New York Film Academy were filming a drama at one of Oakwood apartments when a member of the crew announced the fire.
Moments later, one of the students, Victorino Lee Sanghee, went outside to check the fire and noticed it was now engulfing the hillside and was quickly moving downhill.
"Everyone was sort of freaked out," Sanghee said. "Still, we filmed the whole thing with our camera."
By 3 p.m., the fire had moved away from the buildings into open terrain, said Los Angeles Fire Capt. Antoine McKnight.
The fire, fed by heavy vegetation turned into tinder by the lack of rain, poured out smoke that could be seen from the San Fernando Valley to Hollywood.
The main roads nearby, including the 134 and 101 freeways, were open, though some of the local streets were closed because firefighters were using them. Parts of Forest Lawn Drive and Barham Boulevard were shut.
"Any time there is heavy smoke like this, we really ask that any drivers be extremely cautious," Myers said.
No structures have been damaged and no injuries were reported, Myers said.
There was no immediate cause of the fire, but the dry conditions and lack of rain were factors in its rapid spread. Los Angeles has had slightly more than two inches of precipitation this season, rather than the 13-plus inches normal by this time.
About 200 firefighters, from the city, county and other communities including Burbank, were on the scene, and at least six helicopters were dropping water and foam on the blaze.
No evacuations have been ordered by fire officials, but Myers noted that residents should take the usual precautions of gathering valuables and records.
The Oakwood has 1,151 apartments. One of the about 20 buildings at the site was evacuated, according to a spokeswoman for Oakwood Worldwide, which manages numerous such complexes used for corporate housing.
Joy Scruton, 20, a hostess at Mistral, a restaurant about three miles away on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, said she and some customers went outside and saw flames and thick black smoke mushrooming over the southeastern San Fernando Valley.
"Everyone was looking at it for a minute and went back to their conversations," Scruton said. "People weren't making that big a deal out of it."
The venerable Smoke House in Burbank lived up to its name this afternoon when the thick smoke blanketed the area toward the tail end of the lunch hour.
"At first we could see smoke coming from behind the hill," said manager Israel Aviles. "Then 20 minutes later, the flames started coming over the hill and we started getting more concerned."
Most of the 80 diners didn't realize what was going on, he said.
But the smoke was so thick that employees turned off the air conditioner and closed the doors.
"It was real thick, you couldn't see the hill anymore," Aviles said. "It was down to ground level. Some of the employees were coughing. Everybody's eyes were watering."
Times staff writer Jesus Sanchez contributed to this report.
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