Hollywood Magic Castle On Fire (VIDEO, UPDATED)

Some Dark Magic Afoot? Hollywood's Magic Castle On Fire

Story has been updated to include more details from the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A fire burnt up the attic at the World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood on Monday afternoon. NBC LA first reported on the fire via twitter.

At around 12:45pm, the Los Angeles Fire department tweeted about a "confirmed attic fire" at 7001 W. Franklin Avenue, address of the private magician's club in Hollywood.

Soon afterward, staff at the Magic Castle confirmed that the building had been evacuated as the LAFD took over to control the blaze.

Twelve minutes later, the LAFD took to twitter again to request additional resources at the site.

LAFD spokesperson Matt Spence tweeted another update at around 1:37, saying that the "stubborn" fire was in the attic and possibly the walls, but that it was "close to knockdown" because of the 120 firefighters on the scene.

At 1:42 pm, The LAFD reported via twitter that the fire is over. It took 120 firefighters one hour and five minutes to quell the fire, and no injuries were reported, according to Spence.

The Magic Castle has already updated its website to announce that the club will be closed on Halloween due to fire damage. For the last week in October, the Magic Castle had been hosting daily Halloween celebrations that included a "freakshow deluxe," a dance party and costume contest, and a seance to connect with the spirit of Harry Houdini. Their site's special events calendar had promised that the Magic Castle would be "ON FIRE with the spirit of Halloween!"

Here's an ow.ly picture posted by David Markland of firefighters on the scene:

YouTube video depicts the firefighters on the roof of the castle:

The Magic Castle was built in 1909 as the private home of real estate mogul Rollin B. Lane, who owned much of what is now Hollywood. The house went through various incarnations as a multi-family home, elderly home and apartment building, according to the Magic Castle's official site.

In 1960, Milt Larsen, a writer on the NBC TV show "Truth or Consequences," began to transform the neglected building. Milt was inspired by his father, the famous magician William W. Larsen, Sr., who had once dreamed of an exclusive club for magicians. With the help of generous friends and volunteers, Milt restored the historic Victorian building to just that; in 1963, the tourist attraction that it is today opened its doors to its guests.

UPDATE -- The Los Angeles Fire Department blogged about the Magic Castle fire, explaining that the building's "compartmentalized construction" and complex design concealed the flames, enabling it to spread through the attic to the walls. A wry observation from the LAFD blog: "For a time, the fire seemed, almost, to prevent itself from being discovered and perhaps hoped to extend the theme of the magic club's week-long promotion, on its own."

The LAFD also notes that the fire was determined to be accidental, although authorities are still investigating its cause.

The building has a comprehensive sprinkler system, which both aided the firefighters and contributed to the castle's overall damage. The Los Angeles Times notes that the castle has sustained significant water damage.

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