Los Angeles, CA

I don’t know about you, but to me, it seems like if I were to continue talking about great places to visit, restaurants to eat at, and so on during a time when there’s a brush fire ravaging one of the greatest landmarks in L.A., it’d be a little insensitive.

And out of place.

I really hate it when I’m watching the local news, and they go from talking about a murder, car accident, or some other terrible tragedy, and directly proceed into another “happy” story with huge smiles on their faces. The same thing has been happening the past few days with coverage on the fire. Something kinda like I heard today: “800 acres have now been burned in the fire. In other news, the Dodgers beat the Marlins 5-3 today.” It makes me sick, and I refuse to be the same way.

So hopefully this will be my last post on the Griffith Park Fire. As of last night, it was 75% contained, and expected to be fully contained by late tonight.

City Councilman Tom LaBonge said that this fire is the worst Los Angeles has seen since the Bel Air fire of 1961.

The brushfire in Griffith Park that started yesterday has burned over 600 acres now, with no sign of containment in sight. At dusk, it seemed like the fire was dying down, but it sparked up fiercely again, sometimes with flames 50-100 feet in size. There’s been over 300 mandatory evacuations, and about 1600 people are without electricity right now due to the blaze knocking out power lines. Animals such as deer and coyotes have been fleeing the fire and running the streets of Los Feliz. Thankfully there have been no casualties, but the excessive smoke and ash has caused difficulty in breathing and burning eyes and throats to many people.

The “historical garden” of Griffith Park, Dante’s View, was reported to have been destroyed at around 9:30PM last night.

As stated in my last entry, mandatory evacuations of the L.A. Zoo(save for the animals, which at present I understand have been “secured” within the zoo), Autry Museum, and Griffith Park Observatory, as well as surrounding establishments and residential areas have all been put in place. For a full list of evacuated areas, see here.

All evacuees are being told to report to Marshall High School at 3939 Tracy Street, Los Angeles, CA 90027. The current word is pets are being accommodated here as well.

Even if you have somewhere else to go, such as a friend’s house, other family, or hotel, authorities encourage everyone to check in at the high school to be accounted for.

And if you know someone in the evacuation area and can’t get a hold of them, be sure to check with the high school.

If you’re in the area, please stay inside and away from the fire. Not only can the smoke and ash can really do a number on you, but scared wild animals are running amok, which is a whole other kind of danger. Stay safe out there folks, and my best wishes to the evacuees and those fighting the blaze. I hope they get this contained soon.

For more Information and Pictures, please check the following sites:
bloggin.la
LAist.com
CBS2 News
NBC4 News

Picture taken by mil8 on Flickr

A brushfire suspected to have been caused by an arsonist broke out in an unoccupied area of Griffith Park at around 1:15PM this afternoon. As of now, approximately 150 acres of land has been burned. There’s currently 120 firefighters and 5 water-dropping helicopters battling the blaze that has expanded in such a short amount of time. The wind, and the fact that we’ve gotten so little rain this season is only feeding the flames. The Griffith Park Observatory, L.A. Zoo, and Autry Museum have all been evacuated, as well as a local charter school and golf courses. The smoke from the blaze can be seen from miles away.

The L.A. County sheriff’s have announced that they have a possible suspect under arrest for connection with the fire. They are currently being treated for burns at the hospital.

LAist has a bunch of images of the fire available to view here.