Burn Hollywood Burn

March 31, 2007 5:40 AM

Burn Hollywood Burn. Some striking photos (from the BBC) of the conflagration that came a little too close for comfort to the iconic hillside sign. Some more details here.
posted by flapjax at midnite (19 comments total)

Perhaps it's a bit of viral marketing for this? I mean, anything's possible from people who'd give their movie a tagline like this: "A city on a hill that cannot be hid."
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:45 AM on March 31, 2007

I give the fire 1 star.

Paris is Burning is much better.
posted by R. Mutt at 5:59 AM on March 31, 2007

Is this where someone's supposed to come in and snark about "A brush fire in California - big deal"?



Maybe later.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:22 AM on March 31, 2007

I just noticed, going back to the BBC gallery, that the most striking image (a huge pink plume of smoke spread all across the sky, hanging over LA) has been replaced by a rather less remarkable one. Odd.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:32 AM on March 31, 2007

That's gotta be one heckuva contact high.
posted by DenOfSizer at 6:56 AM on March 31, 2007

This one was pretty close to my house. We live far enough so that we're never in any danger from fires in the hills, but close enough to have heard the choppers and sirens and smell the smoke.

Densely populated area below that hill on both sides, Burbank and Hollywood. Glad that it didnt turn tragic. This one could have been baaaad news if it it got out of hand.

They've arrested a couple of teenage idiots from the Midwest for starting it.

Otherwise...a brush fire in California? Big deal!
posted by perilous at 8:02 AM on March 31, 2007

My cousin lives up there...the sign is a recreation of the original.
posted by brujita at 8:17 AM on March 31, 2007

My cousin lives up there...the sign is a recreation of the original.
posted by brujita at 8:17 AM on March 31

Is it? I thought that at least couple of the letters were still originals that had been restored. I do know that Alice Cooper paid for repairs (or replacement) to one of the "O"s, which I thought was pretty cool. :)
posted by perilous at 8:21 AM on March 31, 2007

Perilous, all the letters were replaced at that point (each letter was sold to a celebrity.) Great history here, including, if you download the history pdf, a delightful photo of a rusted, crumbling original W.
posted by evilcolonel at 8:41 AM on March 31, 2007 [2 favorites]

Ginchy! Thanks, evilcolonel!
posted by perilous at 8:45 AM on March 31, 2007

Wow, what a lame photo set. A picture of a woman pointing in the direction of something out of view. A helicopter that could be dumping water anywhere. A firefighter who could be anywhere. Other than the Hollywood sign this could have been found from a generic stock photo service.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:45 AM on March 31, 2007

This image is great, but I can't tell if it's doctored, or where it's from.
posted by everichon at 9:34 AM on March 31, 2007

Fun fact: the "LAND" in "HOLLYWOODLAND" was destroyed when movie star Neville Sinclair lost control of his jet pack.
posted by brundlefly at 10:32 AM on March 31, 2007

When I visited Hollywood a few years ago, I was struck by how different the popular images of the sign were from the reality. There is no path directly to it (in fact I think it is trespassing to get near), and the closest you can get, on a winding residential road up the mountain, is still pretty distant. At night, there are no lights at all on the entire mountain, so it is completely invisible. It was an odd moment to turn on Entertainment Tonight on the TV, see the opening sequence of the Hollywood sign lit by spotlights, and then look out the hotel room window to see a mass of black where the real sign should be.
posted by ken_zoan at 10:35 AM on March 31, 2007

everichon - on Flickr

Also
posted by lazymonster at 10:58 AM on March 31, 2007

When I visited Hollywood a few years ago, I was struck by how different the popular images of the sign were from the reality.

Yep. Most people don't know it was a sign advertising a housing development, and had nothing to do with the movie industry at the time, so it's not anywhere near anything else.

This shot is turning into the de facto tourist shot of the sign -- it's from the mall next to the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Blvd.
posted by frogan at 2:28 PM on March 31, 2007

Well, I'm just glad we've kept any more jet pack wielding Nazis from crashing into the motherfucker.

Also, Bad Religion wants the first picture for their next album cover.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 3:47 PM on March 31, 2007

This was one of the most frightening sights I have ever had in Hollywood. Coming from a funeral, we came around the Beverly Hills curve heading east onto the Sunset Strip about an hour after the fire started, and were startled by the huge plume of darkening smoke over the hills.

By the time we got to Western through somewhat thicker mid-day traffic than usual, hundreds of people were lining the streets shooting cell phone, still and video images, others were perched on roofs, and the giant sheets of flame were cresting Mount Lee.

I really thought the Hollywood sign might burn by evening, but the Fire Department turned out in great numbers and knocked the fire back. Not for the sign, though. They were protecting the radio towers on the mountain, which also handle communications for the police and other city services. Had they been lost, today would have been the perfect day for a riot.

Fire seems to have been started by idiot Oakwood brats with fireworks. Oakwood are the temporary residence apartments where wannabe actor kids stay during pilot season.
posted by Scram at 5:01 PM on March 31, 2007

Doublewhiskeycokenoice writes "Well, I'm just glad we've kept any more jet pack wielding Nazis from crashing into the motherfucker."

They missed this time. THIS TIME.
posted by brundlefly at 3:03 AM on April 1, 2007