May 8, 2007 2:00 pm US/Pacific
Wildfire Forces Evacuations In Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Authorities have ordered evacuations of homes on the southern edge of raging brush fire in L.A.'s Griffith Park, where 500 acres have burned.
A wall of flames raced across ridges and jumped fire lines Tuesday night as the fire drew closer to houses and the Griffith Observatory.
Hundreds of firefighters and seven water-and-retardant dropping aircraft have been deployed to the park, which straddles hills between Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.
Evacuations were also in effect in the park's Vermont Canyon area, which includes the Los Angeles Zoo, two golf facilities, a school and the Autry Museum.
Extremely dry, hot and windy conditions are fanning the main blaze and a number of nearby spot fires. The fire was reported about 1:30 p.m.
Authorities say they are questioning a person who walked out of the brush onto a golf course after the fire started. The man, possibly homeless, said he fell asleep while smoking and was burned on his stomach and shoulders. He was taken to a hospital.
City Councilman Tom LaBonge told KCAL an arson investigation is under way.
"I know that early on in the fire, a maintenance supervisor from the Roosevelt Golf Course came into the command center and said there's a guy who came into the Roosevelt Golf Course with a burn on part of his body, so they dispatched paramedics to there and then they followed up and went to the hospital, and they're conducting an investigation," LaBonge said.
All the entrances into the 4,212-acre park -- one of the largest in the world -- were shut down and the park evacuated early on. The Los Angeles Zoo, the Gene Autry Museum, Griffith Observatory and other area attractions were also evacuated. No animals were evacuated from the zoo.
The flames, which originated on the southern face of the hills, crossed the ridgeline, sending up plumes of smoke visible from the city and the San Fernando Valley.
Fire crews were struggling to get resources in place to protect the historic carousel in the park and prevent the flames from reaching a condor preserve.
At least 125 firefighters and five helicopters, as well as five county camp crews, were on the scene.
Los Angeles city firefighters were sent to the area near Griffith Park about 1:30 p.m., and quickly requested air support from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Smoke from the fire was affecting the flow of traffic on the Hollywood (101) Freeway and smoke was drifting across the Golden State (5) Freeway, according to helicopter news crews.
Firefighters were dealing with high temperatures, winds and low humidity --the conditions that prompted the National Weather Service to post a Red Flag Warning of extremely high fire danger through Thursday n the mountains, forests and valleys of Southern California.
Two fires have been fought in the same general area since mid-March.
The larger of the two -- which ultimately blackened about 150 acres of the Hollywood Hills -- broke out the afternoon of March 30 near the Oakwood Toluca Hills apartments in the 3600 block of North Barham Boulevard.
The fire raced up a hillside and at one point crept toward the city's historic Hollywood sign, but no major injuries were reported and no homes were damaged.
Two Illinois teenagers allegedly confessed to setting that fire. They allegedly told arson investigators they were playing with a lighter and setting twigs on fire when the blaze spread up the hillside.
They were allowed to return to Illinois, but are due to return to the Southland's Eastlake juvenile facility on May 29 in connection with any charges that might be filed against them.
The boys, from Lindenwood, Ill., were staying at the Oakwood Apartments on Barham Boulevard while the father of the 16-year-old was in town for job training.
On the afternoon of March 12, crews made quick work of a fire that ripped across 10 acres of dry brush in Griffith Park between the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory, injuring a park ranger.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
