Sunset Fire Ignites In Hollywood Hills; Mandatory Evacuation Orders Issued; Sunset Blvd. In Warning Zone

Los Angeles Fire Department crews are responding to a new brush fire in the area of Solar and Astral drives in the Hollywood Hills, in the vicinity of Runyon Canyon. Dubbed the Sunset Fire, the blaze was mapped at 10 acres initially and doubled in size in under an hour.

The National Weather Service said conditions on the ground are north winds 8 to 15 mph with gusts to 25 mph early in the evening, decreasing to 6 to 9 mph after midnight.

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for an area bounded by Laurel Canyon Boulevard on the west, Mulholland Drive on the north, the 101 Freeway on the east and Hollywood Boulevard on the south. See area in red below.

Evacuation warnings for the area — in yellow — extended down to Sunset Blvd. up to Mullholland and to Coldwater Canyon in the west. An LAFD spokesperson urged those in the evacuation warning zone to get out before the full order is issued. Her advice: “head south.”

The blaze is moving rapidly uphill and will likely be threatening structures within 5 or 10 minutes. The flames appeared to be moving south toward the heavily-populated environs of Franklin Avenue.

Of course, the incident is not far from Hollywood landmarks such as the Dolby and TCL Chinese Theaters, the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Magic Castle, the Hollywood Bowl and historic Whitley Heights.

Hollywood High School is among the evacuation centers.

Authorities announced earlier today that Runyon Canyon would be closed due the the winds and fire hazards.

ABC7 was among the first local outlets to pick up the news.  There was no immediate word on how the fire started. It is the second blaze in the hills in as many days. The first fire was quickly stifled.

City News Service contributed to this report.