L.A. city firefighters responded to a report of a fire in the attic at the Magic Castle, located at 7001 W. Franklin Ave. in Hollywood, at 12:35 p.m. Monday. The Magic Castle is the private clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts.
The fire department reported that fire had reached wall space in the structure, and personnel conducted a search and rescue for anyone potentially in the burning area.
About 125 firefighters were on scene before the fire was reported "knocked down" at approximately 1:40 p.m.
The fire was contained mostly to the attic area.
The building had been full of workers preparing for Halloween night festivities.
No one was injured in the fire.
"The damage you can see is primarily in the roof area. The building is sprinklered throughout, so those sprinklers that did go out did cause a water problem, but we did do salvage on all the floors below the second, the first and the basement area to try to minimize any type of water damage from the sprinklers that are in the building," said L.A. Fire Dept. Asst. Chief Scott Mottram.
The Magic Castle's website stated the restaurant club would be closed Monday night due to the fire. The Halloween-night theme was slated to be "Inferno at the Magic Castle."
The building was built as a private residence in 1909. It was transformed into a club for magicians in the 1960s, officially opening as the Magic Castle in 1963.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
