Hollywood Fire Started by Illinois Teens, Threatened Hollywood Sign

Two teenagers from Illinois who were visiting Oakwood turned themselves in to police and admitted starting the blaze, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. The boys, ages 16 and 17, were detained by LAPD officers and may be charged with arson.  Witnesses told authorities they saw two teenagers setting off fireworks about 1 p.m. near the Oakwood apartments, a temporary housing village near several major studios frequented by people in the entertainment business. 

Hollywood Fire Started by Illinois Teens, Threatened Hollywood Sign (Image: NBC)

The fire spread up the north face of the hills towards the Hollywood sign. No homes or buildings were harmed but a choking blanket of smoke covered the area all afternoon.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the 160-acre blaze, the largest in the heavily populated Hollywood Hills in nearly two decades, consumed brushland above the Warner Bros. Studio and Forest Lawn cemetery.  The fire caused no injuries or damage to structures, but the smoke cast a wide shadow over portions of the San Fernando Valley. It also snarled traffic and forced some businesses to shut off their air conditioning.  The blaze sent a massive smoke plume rising above the Hollywood sign, visible from downtown L.A., Santa Monica, Long Beach and beyond.

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The paper notes that the Flames came within a ridge of the Hollywood sign and Mt. Lee radio transmitters. But the Los Angeles Fire Department flew in firefighters to the mountaintop, where they refueled water-dropping helicopters that battled the flames along with ground crews.