LOS ANGELES, July 20 (UPI) — Smoke from an 18-acre brush fire in California’s Hollywood Hills was visible from central Los Angeles and snarled traffic along Highway 101.
The fire, on a steep slope of west-facing terrain of moderate brush and grass, was reported at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said. It was 50 percent contained by the evening.
Although no damage to structures was reported, the fire threatened the John Anson Ford Amphitheater and a nearby neighborhood of exclusive homes. Electricity was disrupted by downed power lines, and the area’s Holly Drive was under a voluntary evacuation notice.
Is its unclear how the fire started.
An LAFD helicopter, flying over the area, first spotted the fire at Cahuenga Boulevard and the northbound Highway 101 freeway. More than 200 firefighters, including the county fire department and aerial crews who scooped water from the Hollywood Reservoir, were involved in containing the fire.
