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The
blaze erupted shortly after 2 p.m. (2100 GMT) and charred 10
acres of drought-parched chaparral and grass on the slopes of
Griffith Park at the edge of the observatory grounds before
firefighters brought the flames under control about 90 minutes
later, fire officials said.
No injuries were reported from the fire, which followed a
weekend heat wave that baked Los Angeles and much of the rest of
Southern California, causing widespread power outages and
contributing to a destructive wildfire in Santa Barbara County.
The fire in Griffith Park burned to within a quarter-mile of the
observatory but never posed a direct threat to the building,
which is situated on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood,
according to city fire department spokesman Brian Humphrey.
Authorities, however, decided to evacuate the site "out of an
abundance of caution," Humphrey said. A pall of smoke from the
blaze was visible throughout much of the surrounding
metropolitan area.
About 600 to 700 visitors and staff were in the building at the
time of the evacuation, observatory museum guide Juan Gutierrez
told Reuters by telephone.
Gutierrez said he saw flames burning "pretty close" to outdoor
restrooms located near the parking lot outside the main
observatory entrance and along a road leading up to the site.
It was the third time the observatory was evacuated in the past
two months because of a fire, Gutierrez said, adding that he
overheard one park ranger say to another that the latest blaze
appeared to have been ignited by a careless smoker.
Humphrey said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
The observatory, dedicated to astronomy for public viewing and
education rather than research, was opened in 1935 and draws
about 1.5 million visitors a year to Griffith Park, one of the
largest municipal parks in the United States.
Providing a real-life backdrop for various Hollywood movies
ranging from "Rebel Without a Cause" to "La La Land," Griffith
Park was the scene of a 1933 wildfire that killed 29 people,
ranking as the single deadliest blaze on record in California.
The 4,300-acre park and observatory are both named for Griffith
J. Griffith, an investor and developer who donated much of the
land to the city of Los Angeles in the late 1890s before he was
tried, convicted and sent to prison for shooting his wife in the
eye. Left blind and disfigured, she divorced him.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and
Leslie Adler)
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