Neighbors say a member of the Rothschild family was killed in a house fire in Los Angeles

A man found dead after his Laurel Canyon home was heavily damaged in a fire Wednesday afternoon was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family, neighbors said.

The body discovered at the Lookout Mountain Avenue property was that of William Rothschild, three people told the Times on Thursday. A magazine seen on the property was addressed to “WM DE ROTHSCHILD.”

The Rothschilds, a sprawling Jewish family originally from Frankfurt, long dominated European banking, with their English and French branches playing important roles in finance and politics, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was widely believed that the Rothschilds had once amassed the largest private fortune in the world.

Today the family is scattered around the world with interests in financial services, energy, real estate and other sectors, while some of its prominent members have become fixtures in high society and charities in London, Paris and beyond. The Rothschild fortune, now divided among many heirs, is said to be worth billions of dollars.

The burned-out property, described by a real estate service provider as an 825-square-meter, two-bedroom property valued at about $1 million, appeared to have had little of the opulence befitting a descendant of the world’s most powerful bankers. A day after the fire, which the Los Angeles Fire Department said was extinguished by 45 firefighters in just over 30 minutes around 5 p.m., the house in the Hollywood Hills was dilapidated and covered in soot

In a video of the blaze shared by a neighbor who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, flames could be seen in several places along the front of the brick and stucco building, which sits above street level and is accessed by a long, tiled staircase is. As the fire spread, the resident said she saw “huge flames” and heard “glass shattering” – and watched as another neighbor held a hose and watched the fire spread. The woman, who didn’t know Rothschild, quickly called 911.

Another neighbor, Dana Gladstone, said he was home during the incident but did not see the fire. Still, he said he heard a woman say, “Oh my God, that’s terrible!”

“She was probably told he died,” said Gladstone, a longtime street resident.

Voter registration records indicate that William A. De Rothschild, listed as 87, lived in the burned home. Another database shows that a 77-year-old man with a similar name owns the property. The deceased man will be officially identified and his cause of death determined by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

The office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A woman whose name appears in the Lookout Mountain home’s records also did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The smell of smoke hung in the air Thursday as passersby stopped to view the scene and neighbors tried to make sense of the incident. Gladstone said Rothschild was in his late 70s and devoted to his dog, an Afghan. He was a friendly man who described himself as a graduate of Yale University, Gladstone said.

“The guy was attached to his dog,” Gladstone said. “I knew him as Will.”

Part of the home, located near Wonderland Avenue Elementary School and built in 1937, was smoldering Thursday morning, prompting a neighbor to call authorities. Within minutes, firefighters arrived on scene and extinguished what one of them said was a decorative piece of wood.

Neighbors said Rothschild maintained a vintage car collection, storing some at his home and others up the street at another property decorated with busts of great thinkers like Raphael and Michelangelo – and several security cameras. Two people said his possessions included a red Porsche that once belonged to Michael Jordan.

The basketball superstar has owned several Porsche 911s over the years, including a red one auctioned last year Reportedly for $500,000.

According to the fire department, no further injuries were reported. But a neighbor said Rothschild’s dog had not been seen since the incident.

Times researcher James Kim contributed to this report.