Getty Center, college evacuates due to LA fire

[July 09, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Visitors to the world-famous Getty Center art complex, which houses works by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh, were evacuated as a fire burned in thick brush on the steep slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The fire was 90 percent contained late Wednesday night after erupting early in the afternoon and quickly growing to 80 acres above parking facilities for the Getty.

About 350 firefighters worked on rugged slopes and seven helicopters pounded flames with water from nearby Stone Canyon Reservoir.

By the time the helicopters were grounded for darkness the blaze was mostly under control, and hand crews were looking for lingering hot spots.

Fire Chief Douglas Barry said the blaze began about three-quarters of a mile from the Getty and moved away to the east as winds blew out of the west. Cool humid conditions after dark helped firefighters.

"We feel very confident we'll have this fire under control very shortly," Barry said.

Fire Department spokesman Lauren deRosier said equipment used by a brush clearance crew sparked the fire.

One firefighter suffered a foot injury.

About 800 employees and 1,600 visitors to the J. Paul Getty Museum and other parts of the hilltop complex were shuttled to the center's south building as a precaution, Getty Center spokesman Ron Hartwig said.

A tram took people down the hill to parking lots so they could drive out the south gate, and the center was closed for the rest of the day, he said.

The Getty has a collection ranging from European paintings to illuminated manuscripts and photographs. The museum's ventilation systems also were shut down to prevent smoke from damaging the priceless artwork, Hartwig said.

"The Getty Center was built with a great deal of safeguard," Hartwig said. "You can never be overly confident, but we're certainly prepared to handle fires in this area."

Nearby to the north, Mount St. Mary's College was evacuated as a precaution even though the fire was a mile away and a canyon lay between it and the school, spokeswoman Sarah Scopio said.

College was not in session but 100 staff members evacuated along with about 200 other people attending a conference, Scopio said. The school used campus shuttles to take them out until the all-clear was given, she said.

City Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said residents of the area were urged to leave, but no homes were threatened.

The Getty and Mount St. Mary's are prominent landmarks on the rugged mountains above Los Angeles' tony western neighborhoods.

A 100-acre blaze in the same area in October burned up to the backyard patios of multimillion-dollar homes before it was extinguished.

The Getty Center opened in 1997 on ridges above Interstate 405, which runs through the Sepulveda Pass. It is famous for its gardens, conservation and research work and its museum, which holds a number of famous works, including Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Irises."

Mount St. Mary's campus was damaged by the disastrous Bel Air-Brentwood wildfire of November 1961, which destroyed 484 homes and 21 other buildings.

[Associated Press; By GREG RISLING]

Associated Press Writers Robert Jablon, Daisy Nguyen and Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.

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