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Mayor Antonio Villaragoisa said the fire has now burned 600 acres. About 25 people have refused to be evacuated from their homes, so LAPD officers are in the neighborhood south of the park monitoring the fire and the holdouts.
-Rong Gong Lin II
LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said the 20-year-old being treated at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks was arrested and booked on suspicion of careless disposal of a cigarette. LAPD sources had earlier said the man said had accidentally set the fire while smoking in the hills above the Greek Theatre.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti said the structure burned in Griffith Park appears to be an equestrian bridge. That appears to be the only structure lost as of 10:30 p.m.
-Larry Gordon
Los Angeles fire officials said the evacuation area was southeast of the park in an area bounded by Cromwell Avenue on the south, Vermont Avenue on the west and Dundee Place on the east. (See a map.)
-Rong-Gong Lin II
At John Marshall High School, where an evacuation center was set up, the smell of smoke filled the air, flames were visible over the hill and the roar of helicopters overhead was constant.
Capt. Dennis Barnes, with the emergency medical service of the Los Angeles Fire Department, said that only about 16 people had formally checked into the evacuation center by 9:45 p.m. Barnes arrived to treat injuries or those suffering from smoke inhalation. So far, no one has needed such treatment.
Barnes suspected that many evacuees went to the houses of friends or to hotels, but added that emergency crews would stay at Marshall as long as there appears to be a need. "It's going to be a long night for everybody," he said.
--Larry Gordon
About 9:40 p.m., firefighting helicopters started dropping water in the backyards along Dundee Drive as a precaution as winds continued to fan flames about 200 yards away in the nearby hills. Vehicles parked on the streets were covered with ash and soot.
-Paul Pringle
As of 9:30 p.m., the fire had scorched well over 300 acres, and officials said they could no longer tell how much of the fire was contained, backing down from earlier, more upbeat assessments.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
"I could feel the heat," said Mark Wynn, who fled his home of six years on Dundee Drive after police came through the neighborhood with bullhorns ordering evacuations. "I was almost choking to death on the smoke."
Wynn tossed some personal effects in his car and drove into a massive traffic jam on Los Feliz Boulevard, where he could see other cars stuffed with belongings. Wynn made way to John Marshall High School, where the Red Cross and police scrambled to set up shelter for as many as 200 people. By about 9 p.m. only 20 evacuees had shown up. More were expected.
Also seeking shelter at Marshall was Dan Blackburn, a retired TV journalist who had seen his share of fires. "This one looks bad because the way the wind is blowing," he said.
His ex-wife, Markio* Blackburn, lives in the area and raced up to Lowry Road to help him evacuate to Marshall, where their daughter is a sophomore. "Everything is awful up there on the hills," she said.
James Mahler, a retired film technician, was evacuated by the police from his Dundee Drive home, where he has lived for 5 years. The police escorted him and his caretaker, Darcela Hugal, from the house so quickly that Mahler said he was only able to take his cat, a six-month-old named after the street.
Mahler sat on a folding chair by the entrance of the Marshall gym with Dundee huddled on his lap as volunteers and Red Cross officials kept walking past.
"I just took the wallet and the kitty cat," Mahler said.
-Larry Gordon
 Some residents of the evacuation were torn about the order to leave. Kim Rhodes, a television actress who lives on Observatory Avenue, said she packed her car and was getting ready to go but, "Half of me doesn't want to evacuate. The other half of me is saying 'what am I going to do if I don't evacuate. Sleep tonight?'"
-Ted Rohrlich
Jonathan Johnson, a realtor who lives in a $3-million-plus home on Cromwell Avenue and who has sold property in the area for 25 years, said after authorities called the evacuation in his neighborhood, "All I could do was grab my dog, my passport and wallet and cell phone with the extra charger. What am I going to do about my koi fish?" ...
"You see it happen all over the city," he said, referring to the fire emergency. " You never think it's going to happen in your backyard." Jon Marc Edwards, a fine artist painter who lives on Cromwell Avenue, said: "Your natural instinct is to stay by your house and protect it." Still, by 9:15 p.m., his family already left, his pets were evacuated, and he was planning to flee as well. -Ted Rohrlich
About 9 p.m., police and firefighters were knocking on doors along Dundee Drive, crowded with police vehicles and firetrucks, looking for stragglers hesitant to leave their homes. They escorted one elderly couple out of their house and loaded them into a police SUV.
The night sky was filled with embers and ash as flames danced on a nearby ridgetop above the neighborhood. Winds continued to push the blaze down toward the homes.
"Come on, come on, you gotta go," authorities said as they walked up and down the street.
-Paul Pringle
The fire has now consumed more than 300 acres, and fire officials said they have lost ground on containment. Just before 9 p.m., containment was at 20-25%. Two hours earlier, it was at 30%
Officials had expected that with nightfall, moist air from the ocean would flow in, aiding their efforts. But instead, the hot winds continued, blowing in different direction.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
About 8 p.m., fire officials called a mandatory evacuation of heavily populated Commonwealth Avenue, Dundee Drive and Dundee Place, which backs up against the hills. Shooting flames could be seen above the neighborhood, hit by power outages, as water-dropping helicopters swirled in and around banks of smoke.
"It just exploded," said Michael Widman, 46, who lives on Commonwealth Avenue and was packing up pictures and computers as he prepared to evacuate. "I don't see how they're going to knock it down. It's a shame."
Widman, who is originally from New York and moved into the neighborhood five years ago, said he had watched the fire for about an hour and thought it was under control when it flared up again.
"I'm done with LA," he said.
Karl Amlauer, 81, who has lived on nearby Dundee Drive for 46 years said this is the first time he has had to evacuate. He said the fire had been calm and then suddenly started raging.
"It happened so fast," Amlauer said. "I thought it was almost over and all of a sudden here it is."
Amlauer and his wife were loading up their BMW hatchback with pictures, antique clocks and clothes.
"You can't take everything," he said.
Said another resident who heeded the fire warnings and jumped into his Range Rover: "You gotta do what you gotta do."
-Paul Pringle
Dante's View, the popular hiking destination in the Hollywood Hills, was destroyed by flames, according to Councilman Tom LaBonge. "This is probably the largest fire in griffith park since at least 1960," he said.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
Here's some details about Dante's View from etreking.com:
Continue reading "Dante's View destroyed" »
 The homes being evacuated are around Dundee Drive at the southeastern edge of the park. There are clear signs that the fire is worsening at the command center near the Greek Theater, where flames are now visible on a ridge above.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
Some mandatory evacuations have been issued for a neighborhood southeast of Griffith Park as flames moved in that direction. The exact area was not immediately known, but an evacuation shelter has been established at Marshall High School.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
The 20-year-old man who is being questioned about the fire was transferred from Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital to the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks within the last hour, said Sarah Faden, spokeswoman for the Los Angels Police Department. He has not been booked or arrested.
-Richard Winton
A fire near Cal State San Bernardino has burned more than 300 acres by Tuesday evening, and was threatening homes, although no structures had burned, according to San Bernardino City Fire Department officials. A voluntary evacuation order has been issued for residents in the area, sparse rolling hills at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Firefighters from the city, as well as San Bernardino County and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, were called into to fight the blaze. Cal State San Bernardino is not threatened, fire officials said.
--Phil Willon
L.A. Fire Chief Douglas Barry said fire had burned a little over 200 acres and was 30% contained by 7 p.m.
Barry said the terrain is so steep that the bulk of firefighting efforts are coming from the air. Fire officials said they had not yet decided if they would continue the air drops after sunset, which is typically the cut off point for firefighting air operations.
"We're trying to get it knocked down before dark," Barry said. "We don't expect a lot of wind this evening."
-Rong-Gong Lin II
The fire is 20-25% contained, but officials warned that it is now moving southeast roughly toward Los Feliz. No homes are threatened right now, and fixed-wing aircraft are dropping fire retardant on open space near homes in hopes of creating a barrier.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
Zoo Director John Lewis said that winds were keeping banks of orange and white smoke away from the complex. He said most of the zoo's 1,200 animals were put inside holding quarters and that staff was monitoring them.
He said there were no reports of animals getting out of control.
If the fire gets closer, he said that the staff would start soaking animal barns and moving smaller animals, like condors, into the parking lot for evacuation. He said the larger animals would remain at the zoo.
"Capturing them would be more dangerous," he said, noting that the first concern was the safety of the staff.
-Paul Pringle
 LAT photo
At about 5:30 p.m., a disaster response team with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rolled up near the entrance to the Los Angeles Zoo, preparing for a possible evacuation. The team brought a horse trailer and a utility trailer equipped with nets and tranquilizer guns.
SPCA Capt. Dave Havard, whose crew numbered a half dozen, said they could take small birds and other animals no bigger than a llama or an emu. He said the birds were most susceptible to the smoke and that moving any of the larger animals would be difficult.
"It's not like they can pull a lot of animals from there unless they have big equipment," he said, as helicopters bombarded flames in the hillsides. "Big cats, elephants, all these big guys, they're going to have to have a plan to handle that."
-Paul Pringle
 LAT photo
As of 5 p.m., L.A. fire officials said they were cautiously optimistic that the conditions were beginning to shift in their favor. The fire was still burning out of control, but officials said it seems to be less of a threat now to the L.A. Zoo and merry-go-round. But it could be well into the night before firefighters gained any level of containment. They also warned another wind shift could change things completely.
The city has asked the state for the use of fixed-wing aircraft that could be used to drop fire retardant.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
At 4:30 p.m., the winds along Crystal Springs Drive were kicking up again as water-dropping helicopters whirled overhead. Los Angeles City Fire Engineer Al Heredig watched as his strike team battled the blaze, shooting streams of water up into the burning hillside.
"The steep terrain, that's tough," he said.
No homes or structures were threatened and no injuries were reported, he said.
-Paul Pringle
L.A. fire arson investigators are interviewing a 20-year-old man who they believe set the fire. The man was hospitalized with severe burns he suffered during the blaze.
Sources close to the investigation told The Times that the man told detectives that he was sitting in the hills above the Roosevelt golf course and touched off the blaze. The man told authorities he set the fire by accident. Sources said they believe the fire was started with matches.
-Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein
Chris Kruells, 52, a retired municipal worker and a regular park visitor, said he was having lunch near the Merry Go Round on Crystal Springs Road about 2 p.m. when fire officials came through with loudspeakers tellig people to leave. He said that's when he saw the wind-whipped flames up in the hills.
"It was like a tornado," he said. "It was spinning, you know like one of those eddies." Kruells said the scene reminded him of the 1962 Griffith Park fire.
Los Angeles Fire Captain Rick McClure parked his car along the road and watched the flames come down the hill.
"This is where they want to control the fire," he said, as firefighters aimed their hoses at the fire.
McClure said firefighters were initially concerned about the homes on the west end of the park near Los Feliz. But he said those homes appeared to be out of danger as well as the Los Angeles Zoo, Greek Theatera and Autry Museum at the other end of the park.
-Paul Pringle
Griffith Observatory around 3:30 pm began an unofficial evacuation as the fanning flames became visible on the hill crest. Observatory operators initiated an evacuation after they became concerned that firefighters would end the shuttle services that allows visitors to go up to the observatory. With smoke in the air and bellow of yellow and orange flames on the horizon, visitors packed on shuttle buses and made their way down the hill. Water dropping county fire helicopters darted over head as visitors made their way to the shuttle buses.
-Efrain Hernandez Jr.
As of 3:40 p.m., fire officials said they focusing their efforts on making sure the fire does not get out of control and spread in a new direction. They are trying to defend the area around the L.A. Zoo. They could not say how close the flame are to zoo. The fire, however, did touch the parking lot earlier.
The fire would have to burn down hill to get the zoo, something the firefighters believe is in their favor.
-Rong-Gong Lin II
Jason Jacobs, a spokesman for the L.A. Zoo, said officials closed the zoo about 2:40 p.m., evacuating all visitors and sending nonessential personnel home for the day. He didn't know how many guests were there at the time.
However, zookeepers, grounds and maintenance crews and public safety officers, as well as the zoo director, remain on the scene to keep watch over the animals and the premises.
"So far the animals are faring fine," Jacobs said. "I haven't heard any reports of anything going wrong." He said the fire was "close." He said the fire could be seen from the zoo in the hills above the grounds.
-Amanda Covarrubias
With hot 10 mph winds blowing, officials say the weather is hampering their efforts to tackle the fire.
"Weather conditions are making this very diffcult," said city fire spokeswoman Melissa Kelley.
-Richard Winton
The fire as of 3:15 p.m. is still out of control, and flames have gotten as close as the parking lot of the L.A. Zoo.
"It's going to take a lot of hard work to get this thing under control," said LAFD's Mario Rueda.
--Rong-Gong Lin II
The fire has come within 100 yards of the historic merry-go-round, prompting fire officials to scramble more resources there.
"It was a wall of fires," said L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who witnessed the fire getting close to the merry-go-round. "It was overwhelming. It is going down in heavy, thick brush that hasn't burned in years... It hurts to see the beauty of the park get scrapped down."
-Rong-Gong Lin II
L.A. Fire spokesman Capt. Rex Vilaubi said 125 firefighters are on the lines, 30 companies including command staff. There are five waterdropping helicopters, including two through mutal aid agreements. Vilaubi said the toughest issue is dealing with the steep topography and shifting winds.
-Amanda Covarrubias
The Griffith Park merry-go-round, the Observatory, the Boy's Camp and the Roosevelt golf course are also evacuated because of the fire.
-Richard Winton
A suspected arson fire that started around 1 p.m. in the hills above the Greek Theater has spread to more than 100 acres, prompting the evacuation of the Gene Autry Museum and Los Angeles Zoo.
More than 100 firefighters were on the lines trying to contain the fire, which has been difficult because steep and treacherous terrain. Southern California has been under a Red Flag warning for fire danger for the last three days because of hot conditions and blustery winds.
LAPD spokeswoman April Harding said the fire was intentionally set and that officials have arrested a suspect, who badly burned.
-Richard Winton
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