N. Hollywood Retirement Home Evacuated by Fire : Arson: Residents in the neighborhood believe the blaze is the latest in a series of arsons in the area.

About 65 residents of a North Hollywood retirement home were evacuated early Saturday after an apparent arson fire broke out in a storage area.

Neighbors said the fire is the latest in a series of blazes set intentionally in the area.

There were no injuries in the fire, which was started about 4:25 a.m. in an unlocked storage area of the Royal Bellingham home at 12229 Chandler Blvd.

The fire activated automatic sprinklers, and firefighters were able to put the blaze out within minutes, said Greg Acevedo of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Blowers set up by the Fire Department cleared the building of smoke in about 45 minutes. Many of the home’s 66 residents went back to bed.

Nonetheless, the fire worried residents of the neighborhood around Bellingham Avenue and Chandler Boulevard, which has been plagued by arson fires in recent weeks.

“It’s a scary thing because there have been so many fires around here,” said Theresa Carnese, assistant administrator of the retirement home.

An arson investigator said, “We are aware of the fires and they are under investigation.” He would not elaborate, nor would he say whether the fires were related to a recent rash of similar blazes in the Reseda-Northridge area. Many of those fires broke out in rubbish bins and storage areas, as did many of the North Hollywood blazes.

Residents of the area have formed a Neighborhood Watch group, led by Stephanie Tapper, a free-lance artist and writer. Tapper said she was compelled to act after an arsonist set two fires in the garage of her apartment building on the same night.

“It became fairly clear to me that we had something going on here that was not the norm,” she said.