'Quick, Robin! To the Batrubble!'

Fire Guts Batman Mansion

from The Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. — Stately Wayne Manor is no longer. A Wednesday night fire gutted a Tudor style mansion that served as the home of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, in the 1960's Batman television series, said Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the Pasadena Fire Department. It was being remodeled by the owners, she said.

"It was a fully engulfed inferno, for lack of a better term," Derderian said. TV footage showed flames leaping high into the night sky.

Sixty to 70 firefighters worked hard to prevent embers from igniting brush behind the home, which is in the city's Arroyo district, Derderian said. A police helicopter hovered above the site to search for flare-ups, she said. Fire crews from Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale and the city and county of Los Angeles were on scene, she said.

The home on South San Rafael Avenue also was used for filming other TV shows and films, including Dead Again, which starred Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh.