Officials said the blaze was deliberately set, the Los Angeles Times reported. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said two teenage boys from Illinois turned themselves in to police and admitted starting the fire.

"They were old enough to know what they were doing," the mayor said, describing the suspects as 16 and 17.

The fire was reported just before 1 p.m. near Universal City. It spread quickly through brush dried by months of drought, covering 150 acres by 4 p.m., and sending plumes of smoke over the city.

The Fire Department deployed five helicopters and 200 firefighters.

At one point, the flames came within 50 feet of the parking lot at the Oakwood Apartments, a complex known as a home for aspiring actors trying to break into the movie business.