LOS ANGELES (AP) - Visitors to the world-famous Getty Center art
complex, which houses works by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh,
were evacuated as a fire burned in thick brush on the steep slopes
of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The fire was 90 percent contained late Wednesday night after
erupting early in the afternoon and quickly growing to 80 acres
above parking facilities for the Getty.

About 350 firefighters worked on rugged slopes and seven
helicopters pounded flames with water from nearby Stone Canyon
Reservoir.

By the time the helicopters were grounded for darkness the blaze
was mostly under control, and hand crews were looking for lingering
hot spots.

Fire Chief Douglas Barry said the blaze began about
three-quarters of a mile from the Getty and moved away to the east
as winds blew out of the west. Cool humid conditions after dark
helped firefighters.

"We feel very confident we'll have this fire under control very
shortly," Barry said.

Fire Department spokesman Lauren deRosier said equipment used by
a brush clearance crew sparked the fire.

One firefighter suffered a foot injury.

About 800 employees and 1,600 visitors to the J. Paul Getty
Museum and other parts of the hilltop complex were shuttled to the
center's south building as a precaution, Getty Center spokesman Ron
Hartwig said.

A tram took people down the hill to parking lots so they could
drive out the south gate, and the center was closed for the rest of
the day, he said.

The Getty has a collection ranging from European paintings to
illuminated manuscripts and photographs. The museum's ventilation
systems also were shut down to prevent smoke from damaging the
priceless artwork, Hartwig said.

"The Getty Center was built with a great deal of safeguard,"
Hartwig said. "You can never be overly confident, but we're
certainly prepared to handle fires in this area."

Nearby to the north, Mount St. Mary's College was evacuated as a
precaution even though the fire was a mile away and a canyon lay
between it and the school, spokeswoman Sarah Scopio said.

College was not in session but 100 staff members evacuated along
with about 200 other people attending a conference, Scopio said.
The school used campus shuttles to take them out until the
all-clear was given, she said.

City Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said residents of the
area were urged to leave, but no homes were threatened.

The Getty and Mount St. Mary's are prominent landmarks on the
rugged mountains above Los Angeles' tony western neighborhoods.

A 100-acre blaze in the same area in October burned up to the
backyard patios of multimillion-dollar homes before it was
extinguished.

The Getty Center opened in 1997 on ridges above Interstate 405,
which runs through the Sepulveda Pass. It is famous for its
gardens, conservation and research work and its museum, which holds
a number of famous works, including Vincent Van Gogh's painting
"Irises."

Mount St. Mary's campus was damaged by the disastrous Bel
Air-Brentwood wildfire of November 1961, which destroyed 484 homes
and 21 other buildings.