Sunset Fire In Hollywood Hills Now Fully Contained – Update

UPDATED with latest: The Los Angeles Fire Department has fully contained the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills, city officials said.

All evacuation orders were lifted earlier this morning for those impacted by the fire. The blaze, which broke out Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m. near Runyan Canyon charred about 43 acres before firefighters gained the upper hand around midnight.

“At 7:30AM, the closed section of the Sunset Fire, area North of Franklin, will be OPEN and all evacuation orders LIFTED,” the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement.

The incident began at 3656 N Sunswept Dr, where a four-story residence became well involved in fire with exposures and vegetation. Firefighters were in defensive mode against the fire with priority of defending the exposures and preventing extension into the brush. The multistory structure quickly collapsed onto itself. Other structures were also set ablaze on the hillside. The blaze moved quickly uphill and rapidly threatening homes, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

On the other side of Coldwater Canyon, several homes became fully engulfed in Studio City.

Shortly after that blaze got going, there was another ignition about a quarter mile away in an area of bush along the same ridge line near Viewcrest Road.

PREVIOUS, Wednesday 7:41 PM: 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.”

That might be hard to do given that Hollywood Boulevard has now been closed between La Brea Avenue and Crescent Heights Boulevard. Helicopter footage on KTLA5 showed a sea of red tail lights on all the major north-south arteries running away from the hills .

KTLA5 reported that others were fleeing on foot, dragging suitcases.

The flames appeared to be moving south toward the heavily-populated environs of Franklin Avenue.

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.

On the plus side of the ledger, the fire is also very close to the Hollywood Reservoir, which could facilitate quick-turn aerial water drops. To that point, multiple water-dropping aircraft were being used in hopes of slowing the fire’s advance.

Asked about the fire at a news conference called to address other incidents, the L.A. Times reported that LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said, “I don’t have a lot of information…I can tell you we’re throwing all of our available resources at it as we speak.”

Hollywood High School and Pan Pacific Recreational Center are 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.