Firefighters Make Significant Progress on Barham Fire

Firefighters worked throughout the night by ground and air to extinguish a stubborn brush fire on the north side of Mount Lee that cast a thick smoke over Warner Bros. Studio and the Hollywood Hills area, stopping forward growth and monitoring hot spots Sunday.

The fire had burned 80 acres and was 80% contained as of 7 p.m. Sunday.

Firefighters will continue to work through the night and on Monday to achieve full containment, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange.

Small but widely seen, the blaze also forced the closure of Forest Lawn Drive between Barham Boulevard and the 134 Freeway Sunday morning as firefighters used the cemetery as a staging area. Forest Lawn Cemetery remained open Sunday and was not impacted by the road closure.

The brush fire started above Forest Lawn Drive on the San Fernando Valley side of Mount Lee, over the hill from the Hollywood sign. The fire was reported just before 2 p.m. Saturday and burned uphill in an area with heavy brush.

No structures were threatened. The nearest residential structures was the Oakwood Corporate Housing complex, located off Barham Boulevard to the west of the fire.

At least five water-dropping helicopters were hammering flames with precise drops. They were refilling atop Mount Lee behind the Hollywood sign and at nearby Lake Hollywood Reservoir.

There were several firebreaks between the fire and nearby structures, including the Hollywood sign. Smoke could be seen towering over the sign from the Hollywood side of the mountain.

Smoke could be seen from miles around in the San Fernando Valley. More than 230 LAFD personnel were battling fire, according to LAFD. One firefighter was hurt.

The cause of the fire was unknown, but the fire department said, "Preliminary indications are that there was no homeless encampments in or around the fire's point of origin."

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