A brush fire has burned at least 400 acres on the Westside near the Getty Center, prompting authorities to issue mandatory evacuation orders for about 10,000 homes.
The Getty fire broke out around 2 a.m. on Monday along Interstate 405 and spread to the south and west toward the hilltop museum, according to the Los Angeles Times. Several homes on Tigertail Road have burned along with at least two homes in Brentwood.
#LAFD making a stand at a home on Tigertail road: “If this goes up we’re screwed.” #GettyFire pic.twitter.com/WdkG68yEOh
— Brian van der Brug (@bvdbrug) October 28, 2019
#GettyFire Homes on Tigertail Road fully engulfed #LAFD massive response to help save homes pic.twitter.com/TZm90ZoIcv
— Brian van der Brug (@bvdbrug) October 28, 2019
The fire comes just a week after a blaze ripped through Pacific Palisades and the latest in a string of fires over the last several years to threaten or burn L.A.’s hillside communities.
Fire officials said they were most concerned about the Mandeville Canyon area. Students at the Mount Saint Mary’s University campus, located between the Getty Center and Mandeville Canyon, reportedly made a hasty escape from their dorms in the early hours on Monday.
The mandatory evacuation zone is bounded by Mulholland Drive to the north, Interstate 405 to the east, Sunset Boulevard to the south, and Temescal Canyon Road to the west.
#TopangaCanyon has become the western border of the VOLUNTARY Evacuation Warning for the #GettyFire , Please don’t wait for things to be mandatory- Prepare Now! @LACoFDPIO #LASD @LHSLASD pic.twitter.com/XlycXdiJyY
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) October 28, 2019
As of Monday morning, winds were carrying embers up to a mile ahead of the fire. Winds are expected to increase on Monday, and the air could also become dangerously dry, potentially accelerating the fire’s spread. Around 500 firefighters are working on the blaze.
Mayor Eric Garcetti urged people to evacuate the area, telling residents to “get out when we say get out,” and not to try to fight the fire with garden hoses.
L.A. Lakers star Lebron James was among those who evacuated their homes in the area Monday morning. James found accommodations Monday morning after “driving around… trying to get rooms” with no luck. He urged people to evacuate.
I ?? for all the families in the area that could be affected by these ???????????? now! Pretty please get to safety ASAP
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 28, 2019
In late 2017, the Skirball Fire burned several homes in the area to the east of Interstate 405, forcing 200,000 people out of their homes.
The most destructive recent blaze in the L.A. area was last fall’s Woolsey Fire that destroyed around 400 single-family homes and 270 other structures in Malibu alone, along with hundreds of buildings in surrounding areas. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch