Brush fires threaten neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California

July 9, 2009

A brush fire erupted at 12:44 p.m. PDT Wednesday in the Westside neighborhoods of Los Angeles, California. Many structures, including the Getty Museum, are threatened. Visitors to the museum were seen to line up awaiting transport out of the area. Over 800 employees and an undetermined number of visitors were evacuated.

Mount St. Mary's College has also been evacuated. School is out for the summer months, but there were about 300 on campus. As of late afternoon, no homes were in harms way, but residents were encouraged to leave the area as a precautionary measure.

Over 30 to 40 acres of brush land have been destroyed by late afternoon.

Between 150 and 250 firefighters were on the scene assisted by three helicopters.

"We feel very confident we'll have this fire under control very shortly," said Fire Chief Douglas Barry.