L.A. Zoo evacuating animals amid fire in Griffith Park

LOS ANGELES – Officials were preparing to evacuate some animals from the Los Angeles Zoo as a fire burned in Griffith Park on Friday.

The lemurs were among the first animals out, park employees said.

Zoo staffers were also hosing down the most vulnerable hillside areas, officials said.

Fire engines were unable to get to the area, authorities said, so crews were hiking into the park to set up battle lines and determine how to get water to the blaze. A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter was expected to respond.

The fire sent plumes of smoke into the air as heavy brush burned, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Los Angeles Zoo staff members said they could see the fire from their offices, but they have not been evacuated.

The fire was spotted just before 8 a.m. near fire roads, hiking trails and a landfill in a remote section of Griffith Park, presenting a challenge for crews to reach, said Los Angeles Fire spokesman Peter Sanders.

Within an hour of the fire first being spotted, several city, county and privately contracted water-dropping helicopters were orbiting the L.A. Zoo employees evacuate birds and animals due to a small brush fire that broke out in Griffith Park on Friday in Los Angeles.

park trying to knock down the flames.

The blaze spread to about 3 acres about an hour after it began, Sanders said. “There’s no wind here right now unlike in Ventura (County),” Sanders said, referring to the conditions crews are facing with a fast-moving blaze threatening thousands of homes to the west.

“Our priority right now is to protect the zoo property.” While crews were busy hiking through rugged terrain to reach areas to set up defensive lines, others were stationed in the L.A. Zoo parking lot, waiting to be deployed.

The fire was producing a thick smoke plume visible from two freeways but was not threatening any structures, Sanders said.