Fire Closes 2 Freeway

By City News Service

At least three houses caught fire today in Echo Park, and firefighters scrambled to save a line of houses as brush spread flames inthe heart of Los Angeles.

Smoke was visible from as far away as Santa Monica, as city and county firefighters were rushed to the area. The southern end of the Glendale (2) Freeway was closed, south of the Golden State (5) Freeway, near Silver Lake.

Three helicopters were called out to assist ground efforts in the blaze,which was called in just after 1 p.m. in the 2200 block of Allesandro Way, according to Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"Silver Ridge Avenue has multiple homes exposed, firefighters are working extremely hard to prevent those homes from being damaged,'' Scott told Los Angeles radio station KNX.

Additional resources have been also called out into the battle, Scott said.

Dispatchers told crews multiple fires were burning in the area, in the hills south and west of the Golden State (5) Freeway and north of Elysian Park. The command post was set up at Riverside Drive at Allessandro Street.

Witnesses described L.A. County fire choppers landing to pick up water on the closed section of the 2 Freeway, with flames shooting in the air from landscaping on the south side of the freeway.

More than 75 firefighters from the city and county were on the fire lines, Scott said. The temperature was 100, the humidity was 10 percent, and winds were blowing at 9 miles per hour from the north.