Griffith Park on fire - LA sky turns red

by Actual News Geezer | May 8, 2007 at 07:08 pm

2506 views | 12 Recommendations | 5 comments

Today - Wednesday - the fire continues to burn and meteorologists are predicting a 100 degree day. Firemen are trying to keep hotspots from developing all over.

NowPublic member jeneyepher has sent in this personal account:

My parents live walking distance from the Los Feliz / Western Blvd. entrance of Griffith Park. I am about 10 minutes away and am trying to convince them to pack a bag and find their car keys before they fall asleep for the night...just in case.

Not only is this terribly frightening in regard to lives homes and safety... but I am really getting upset.

If any of these landmarks burn down, I am going to be devastated. Landmarks and areas in danger include:

The Los Angeles Zoo, the Observatory, the actual park, the Greek Amphitheater, the pony rides, the equestrian center, travel town trains, the golf course, the gene autry museum...which have all been evacuated.

200 Acres have burned and the fire is getting worse.

For those who do not know Griffith Park - it is a lovely, wild area above Los Angeles. As a young kid who was very interested in astronomy, a visit to the Griffith Park Observatory was a real treat.

Even though the telescopes at the Observatory are no longer as useful as in the days when the night sky over Los Angeles was clear and the stars sharp, the area is one of tremendous beauty. We hope firemen can put this fire out while staying safe.

The photos coming in already show the fire's tremendous fury. Check out the slide show. Many thanks to all our contributors, including:

evaxebra

Moira Boyra

cageitfallsinto

eat more fruits and veggies

This according to AP this morning:

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters said they were making major progress
against a wildfire that roared across brush-covered hills in the city's
sprawling Griffith Park on Tuesday, triggering evacuations of homes and
some of the city's most famous landmarks.

A
wall of flames raced across ridges and jumped fire lines late in the
evening as the fire drew closer to homes and the Griffith Observatory,
one of the locations for the 1955 film "Rebel Without a Cause."

Hundreds
of firefighters and five water-dropping helicopters rushed to the
landmark park — a mix of wilderness, cultural venues, horse and hiking
trails and recreational facilities set on more than 4,000 acres on the
hills between Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.

Nowpublic members in the LA area are requested to send in fotos and descriptions.

21 See all footage | View Slideshow

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recommend This comment thread is now closed

Actual News Geezer

at 18:47 on May 8th, 2007

If NowPublic members in the LA area have fotos to contribute, please click on the Upload button and your stuff will be associated with this story...or you can write your own account.

René

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 21:31 on May 8th, 2007

That's what I'm talking about! A community puts it ALL together instead of scattering it into meaningless scrambles.

Great plan to put this story together with all the contributors on ONE page, so we can find it!

Actual News Guy, Good stuff.

And besides that I've spent lots of time in that park, and lived close to it.

Hopefully this is not the start of one long year of fires in L.A.

Actual News Geezer

at 04:37 on May 9th, 2007

René, thanks so much for your kind words. Yes, this is what NowPublic is all about. We're still young and as our community grows, so too will its ability to deal with the world coherently and comprehensively. This is exactly our goal and with members like you - it'll happen!