Los Angeles, CA

As of November 3rd, you can now drive all the way up to the Griffith Observatory without making a reservation in advance. Before, you had to call ahead and make a reservation just to visit the observatory, taking the fun out of wandering around and just deciding to hang out there. (That was most of the fun of going!) But now that the building has been open for a year, during which time 650,000 people have visited, the observatory is now completely open to the public to show up any time they want. They will now have parking attendants, as well, to help deal with the extremely limited parking and prevent any traffic jams from occurring. The mayor, in his press release about the unrestricted access to the observatory, still strongly encourages people to either carpool or take a cab up to the observatory if they must use a car, or else walk or ride a bike up there. He also points out that the numerous hiking trails around Griffith Observatory are fully open, if you felt the need to get a little more exercise when you’re in the area.

This also means that the complimentary shuttle service, which has been in operation since the grand reopening last November, will stop. This was done mainly to keep the disruption of traffic in the nearby neighborhoods at a minimum, the mayor said, but now that things are returning to normal and there will be full-time parking attendants to guide drivers to either the observatory’s parking lot or nearby street parking, traffic should still not be a problem.

Now that the idea is in your head, stop by if you’re in the neighborhood! I only have happy memories of Griffith Observatory as a kid, and that’s saying something, judging by the number of dull cultural things I’d been dragged to all my life. Besides, they have a cool new show with Leonard Nimoy (sigh) hosting that sounds really awesome. It’s every hour on the hour and talks about the history and renovation of the observatory.

The observatory is open every day but Mondays, and they strongly encourage you to try and come on weekdays, when it’s less crowded. Now go!

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.