The Getty Fire burning in the Sepulveda Pass is 79% contained Monday with 745 acres burned and the last remaining evacuees back home, authorities said.
At the height of the fire, which began Oct. 28, evacuation orders affected 10,000 homes and commercial buildings and stretched from the San Diego (405) Freeway west to Temescal Canyon Road, between Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive. The evacuation area was dramatically reduced late Wednesday, leaving only a handful of Brentwood-area neighborhoods affected. Those remaining evacuation orders were lifted Friday morning.
Firefighters were able to take advantage of favorable weather conditions late this weekend to increase containment of the six-day-old blaze, and will remain on scene for the next several days extinguishing hot spots and patrolling the area to identify potential hazards.
“Weather is proving to be more favorable over the next couple of days with weak offshore winds of 10-15 mph expected,” according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The agency noted, however, that “a low relative humidity trend will continue through much of the next week across Southern California. Conditions remain favorable for dangerous fire growth and behavior.”
The blaze destroyed 10 homes and damaged 15 others. Five firefighters suffered minor injuries.
Fewer than 100 firefighters were assigned to the fire by Saturday morning.
Authorities confirmed that the Getty Fire was caused by gusting winds that severed a tree branch and blew it into a Los Angeles Department of Water & Power electrical line, causing sparks that fell onto the brush below.
“This was, simply put … an act of God,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
The Getty Center museum and Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades re-opened Saturday after being closed at the height of the fire.