LA Fire 75% Contained; 1/5 of Griffith Park Burnt

by Brian A Kennedy | May 10, 2007 at 08:52 am

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It's almost time to start talking about the "aftermath" of Monday's terrible fire in LA's historic Griffith Park. Firefighters are reporting containing about 75% of the blaze, with the rest of the fire under control by 6pm PT today.

As hand crews form that 6-mile long buffer zone, helicopter pilots will concentrate on helping surveying the fire for possible hot spots.

Though the park remains closed, several offramps from Interstate 5 and the 134 Freeway that have been shut down since Tuesday were re-opened this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Authorities say the cause of the blaze, which broke out Tuesday afternoon, is still under investigation.

Damage so far is significant, but not as bad as it could have been:

[q
url="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/10/national/a045236D63.DTL"]One-fifth
of the city's sprawling Griffith Park was a fire-charred landscape
Thursday, but its landmark observatory and zoo remained untouched, and
officials hoped to have the still-burning wildfire fully contained by
nightfall.

"The tide is turning in our favor," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said
late Wednesday as area residents returned to previously evacuated
homes.[/q]