Overnight Water Drops Cool Blaze
By Rachel Uranga and Rick Coca STAFF WRITERS
A brush fire that charred more than 800 acres in Griffith Park and threatened some of Los Angeles’ most popular landmarks was nearly contained Wednesday, allowing firefighters to send hundreds of evacuated residents back to their homes.
Aided by water-dropping helicopters that flew overnight, firefighters had at least half of the blaze surrounded Wednesday evening and expected full containment sometime today.
“We made great progress. … There is no active fire that is still moving, which is good. The wind really cooperated,” said Los Angeles City fire Capt. Rick Godinez.
The park and its main attractions — the observatory, the Los Angeles Zoo, golf courses and the Autry National Center — were expected to remain closed at least through today.
After a sudden change in wind direction, the fire burned out of control Tuesday evening, racing dangerously close to houses in the Los Feliz area, forcing the evacuation of 200 homes. Towering orange flames also came near the Greek Theatre and the Griffith Observatory.
But in the end Tuesday, the fire damaged just one home.
About three-dozen residents spent the night at Marshall High School, where an evacuation center was set up for residents ordered to flee their homes. The evacuation order was lifted Wednesday and the center closed in the afternoon.
The fire, believed started by a tossed cigarette near one of the park’s golf courses, has burned an estimated 817 acres in the 4,200- acre park, including the landmark Dante’s View.
A 20-year-old man was questioned after he was found near the ignition point of the fire, on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Municipal Golf Course.
He suffered second-degree burns on his hands and chest and was treated Wednesday at Sherman Oaks Hospital.
Los Angeles fire Capt. Antoine McKnight said the man was cited for smoking in a brush-fire area. “We are not prepared to say whether it’s arson or accidental,” McKnight said.
Staff writers Sue Doyle and Eugene Tong contributed to this article.
rachel.uranga@dailynews.com
(c) 2007 Daily Breeze. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.