The Region - News from April 5, 1987

The HOLLYWOOD sign, that temporarily reads FOX, sparked yet more attention when unknown arsonists tried to light up the letters with flames. Most of the letters are now covered with burlap, letting only a FOX peer out from the hillside as part of a controversial promotion by the Fox Broadcasting Co. to kick off its prime-time programming. A guard on the road above the sign on Mt. Lee heard voices from below and then saw the flames, according to Dick Gillespie, project manager of C.E. Bent Parade Floats, which altered the sign for Fox. The guard called the Fire Department and then extinguished burning brush around the sign, Gillespie said. It took firefighters about five minutes to put out the smoldering burlap covering the second “O” in HOLLYWOOD. The sign was not damaged, Gillespie said, but it took his company nearly six hours to replace about $400 worth of the burlap covering. Homeowners near the sign had protested the alteration of the landmark, saying it was too commercial and would attract vandals.