Crime & Safety

2 Firefighters Injured in Blaze at Hollywood Hills Home

Officials are working to determine the cause of the fire that resulted in serious damage to a Woodrow Wilson Drive house reportedly owned by actor Jack Nicholson.

Two firefighters were transported to area hospitals with serious injuries after working to extinguish a blaze in the Hollywood Hills in a house reportedly owned by actor Jack Nicholson.

One firefighter was transported to Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles after wooden beams fell on him and hit his head, and another firefighter was taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank for smoke inhalation and chest pains.

“We were able to contain the fire to the house, and there was a lot of brush and vegetation, but none of the brush or the nearby homes were threatened,” Assistant Fire Chief Scott Mottram said on the scene. 

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Mottram said he was unaware that Nicholson was associated with the property.

“We have not yet interviewed the person in the house at the time, but he was uninjured and he was not Jack Nicholson,” Mottram said.

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Mottram said more than 200 firefighters and three police helicopters responded to the call in the 7300 block of Woodrow Wilson Drive a little after 8 p.m. Friday in the windy hills just above Valley View Elementary School. Flames were seen shooting out of the house from Universal Studios and part of the east end of Studio City. Smoke from the fire not only permeated Studio City and the Cahuenga Pass, but into Hollywood and Outpost Drive. 

drove up the hill by himself and came to check on the firefighters at about 10:30 p.m. The councilman said he heard the reports and wanted to check out the scene himself.

Roads were blocked from Mulholland Drive and down to Pacific View Drive, and 14 firetrucks from Studio City, Hollywood and Sherman Oaks came to the scene.

“When there is a fire in the hills, we don’t take any chances, and it was important to have everyone on hand in case it spreads,” Mottram said. “We didn’t use the police helicopter water drops, but we were ready. The roads around here are long and steep, and it’s a secluded house with heavy brush.”

The single-story house was considered “seriously damaged” by officials. Up the driveway were four addresses, and the parents of a neighbor arrived to check on their son’s place. They said he was away on tour with a sports team, but would not identify him.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and firefighters were expected to remain at the scene until after midnight.

The cause of the fire was not known, but one of the renters told reporters at the scene that some chemicals in the garage may have played a role.

"It's an active investigation and our investigators will head back out [Saturday] morning to finish their work,'' Matt Spence, an LAFD spokesman said.

According to City-Data.com, the property is owned by the John J JN Nicholson Trust. The 1,300-square-foot house, built in 1950, was assessed at $155,678 in fiscal 2008-09.

The home is owned by Nicholson, but he moved out in 1975, two years after buying it, Fox11 reported. Phone records indicate the property is being rented by William Ofarrell and William N. Tynan.

— City News Service contributed to this report.


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