Hollywood Celebrity Nightclub Up In Flames

Fire has ripped through a Los Angeles nightclub popular with celebrities
and Hollywood actors, covering the surrounding neighborhood with smoke and ash.

The one-storey building, which was built in the early 1900s, is home to
the Basque Nightclub & Restaurant. Celebrities frequent the joint, in
which Lindsay Lohan celebrated her 21st birthday, and where rapper Kanye West partied just last week.

The club was not open at the time of the fire and there were no
injuries, firefighters said.

Los Angeles city councillor Tom LaBonge said he was walking near the
Griffith Park Observatory at 5.45am when he saw the fire erupt a few
kilometres away.

"I saw what looked like an orange meteor busting through the roof ... a
half moon of orange glow," he said.

The fire was put out by 8am, Battalion Chief Mario Rueda said at a news
conference.

The nightclub is located on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine
Street, which is known as the world's most famous intersection in the
most famous neighbourhood. Stars immortalised in the Walk of Fame at the corner include James Stewart, James Dean and Judy Garland.