Man Found Dead After House Fire; Revelers Defy Gunfire Prohibition

A man was found dead and two firefighters were injured during a Hollywood Hills house fire early Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the city, reports of gunshots and drunk drivers made for a busy New Year’s holiday for police officers.

Firefighters got a call on the blaze in the 2600 block of Hollyridge Drive in the Beachwood Canyon area at 8:02 a.m. Wednesday. They arrived to find the three-story home engulfed in flames.

A search-and-rescue crew canvassing the property discovered the burned body of a man, who had not been identified as of Wednesday afternoon.

Two people identified as the owners of the home were unharmed, police said.

It took more than 40 firefighters from eight engine companies fighting an hourlong battle to quench the flames. Firefighters Rio-Bec Hernandez and David Rogers suffered serious leg, hand and arm burns. Both were taken to the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, said Jim Wells, city Fire Department spokesman. They are listed in stable condition.

The cause of the fire was ruled accidental, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, police received numerous calls of shots fired despite a public campaign to discourage celebratory gunfire. The LAPD counted 519 shots-fired calls, up from 393 in 2001. Fifteen people were arrested on gunfire-related charges.

In one incident, an LAPD gunfire suppression detail working near the Newton Community Police Station heard a volley. They rushed to the 1600 block of East 40th Place -- near Vernon Avenue and Alameda Street east of the Harbor Freeway -- and found a group of New Year’s revelers on a street littered with no fewer than 300 shell casings.

The bullets had been fired from handguns. Two men were arrested, police said.

The custom of shooting bullets into the air on New Year’s has resulted in injuries in the past, but none were reported this year.

State patrol officers were out in force for the holiday. They arrested 534 people statewide, compared with 283 last New Year’s.

In Los Angeles County alone, the California Highway Patrol arrested 85 people on charges related to drunk driving, up from 66 last year.