Video: Hollywood Mansion Fire; Valuable Collections Burn

LOS ANGELES - Fire has engulfed a Hollywood Hills mansion whose owner claims he lost priceless art, a Faberge egg, a 600-gallon fish tank and a Stradivarius violin.

The owner, attorney Brian Witzer, estimates damage to the home and its contents at up to $14 million.

Los Angeles city fire spokesman Erik Scott say he can't immediately confirm the contents of the home.

The four-story house above Sunset Boulevard was wreathed in flames when nearly 100 firefighters arrived Wednesday morning. Scott says the fire was doused in 38 minutes.

Nobody was hurt and nearby homes weren't damaged.

Televised news reports say a Ferrari and other pricey cars were saved.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Permalink Reply by Marc on September 16, 2009 at 8:28pm

The 2 closest firestations (27's and 89's) to this fire were part of the LAcityFD brown outs. Thats why it took so long to respond because the closest stations were over 3 miles away. and not even in the same battalion. Thanks Mayor Villaragosa.

***quick note: The mayor wants to hire 10,000 new Police officers by 2012, but keep the fire dept. cuts until an unspecified date. And this stuff happence when u shut down stations. Just a quick note.

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on September 17, 2009 at 8:48am

The owner, attorney Brian Witzer, estimates damage to the home and its contents at up to $14 million.

You would think someone who can afford all this expensive stuff could afford to install a sprinkler system.