LA fire

[Ohio Buckeye]

The news here showed a huge fire in LA area. Griffin Park or something
like that with evacuations of zoo, etc.
Are any of you in CA in that area?  Just wondered.

[kitkatz]

We have a fire in San Bernardino out on Little Mountain near some pretty expenive homes.  I am not near it thank God.

[Chicken Little]

It looks like it's pretty dang close to the Observatory, which just finished it's refurbishment.      

[kitkatz]

On the news they said they evacuated the golf course near the fire. The people were coming into the buildings asking for their greens fees back, in spite of the evacuations. Are California golfers nuts?

[Chicken Little]

I'm sure people stood in line for refunds when they evacuated the zoo and museum too.   

[okarol]

I saw the smoke today around 2:00 and it looked close to my house. I decided to drive that direction on the freeway and it was actually about 8 miles east of us. The flames were burning down from the top of the Griffith Park hills on the Glendale side. Since then they have brought in the Super Scooper airplane to do water drops, plus helicopters and lots of firefighters on the ground. The wind shifting is not good and the humidity is very low - which makes it difficult to fight. It has burned at least 200 acres so far, and they are beginning to make mandatory evacuations of several dozen homes. It's also dangerously close to the Greek Theater and the Observatory and has knocked power out to 2000 homes right now. The mayor was just on TV and said the firefighters here are the best in the world and are doing everything they can to stop the fire.

[okarol]

Suspected Arson Blaze Forces Evacuations in Los Feliz, Griffith Park

A dangerous fire in L.A.'s sprawling Griffith Park has burned at least 300 acres of trees and brush. Extremely dry, hot and windy conditions worsened after nightfall, contrary to firefighters expectations.  About 120 firefighters and five water-dropping helicopters were deployed to the 4,200-acre park, which straddles hills between Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.  Mandatory evacuations were put into effect along Dundee Place and then the area evacuated was expanded from Dundee Place to Commonwealth Avenue, and Cromwell Avenue to Vermont Avenue.  Nearby Marshall High School was being used as an evacuation center.  At one point, about 2,000 Department of Water and Power customers were without power.
Fire officials have notified police they have detained someone suspected of starting the blaze. The suspect is at a hospital being treated for burns.

Story and photo from http://www.kfwb.com/

[Sluff]

I saw the smoke today around 2:00 and it looked close to my house. I decided to drive that direction on the freeway and it was actually about 8 miles east of us. The flames were burning down from the top of the Griffith Park hills on the Glendale side. Since then they have brought in the Super Scooper airplane to do water drops, plus helicopters and lots of firefighters on the ground. The wind shifting is not good and the humidity is very low - which makes it difficult to fight. It has burned at least 200 acres so far, and they are beginning to make mandatory evacuations of several dozen homes. It's also dangerously close to the Greek Theater and the Observatory and has knocked power out to 2000 homes right now. The mayor was just on TV and said the firefighters here are the best in the world and are doing everything they can to stop the fire.

Save the famous staircase...LOL   Seriously 8 miles is not that far away with the winds shifting as they can. take care I hope the fire doesn't get any closer.

[livecam]

The news here showed a huge fire in LA area. Griffin Park or something
like that with evacuations of zoo, etc.
Are any of you in CA in that area?  Just wondered.

I set up a truck and a camera in the parking lot to get some shots of it for live cut ins we were doing and then got in the car and got out of town fast.  Thankfully the freeways weren't backed up and I was safely 30 miles away and shopping at Costco half an hour later.  We've seen this stuff many times before.  The Hollywood Hills fire a couple of months ago was right in our faces as well.  Looks kinda like Apocalypse Now when something like that is literally a few miles from your door.

[Sluff]

Seems like another Arson. What inspires someone to start these fires? News coverage? Sickos.

[livecam]

The fire as it appeared over Hollywood this morning just before 7AM PDT.

[Sara]

I hope everyone out there stays safe and they get those fires put out SOON!  We have them going on in the surrounding counties, and you smell and see smoke everywhere you go. 

[okarol]

A brush fire has scorched some 600 acres of Los Angeles' historic Griffith Park. The picturesque park has been used as a location for numerous television shows and films, including 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause" and 1985's "Back to the Future."

Lower temperatures and calmer winds early Wednesday allowed the 500 firefighters on the scene to contain the blaze at 40 percent, Los Angeles Fire Capt. Brian Sandwick said. A red-flag warning was issued for the region Wednesday due to low humidity, temperatures close to 100 degrees and 20-mph Santa Ana winds in one of the Los Angeles area's driest seasons in history.

The park is in the Hollywood Hills, about 10 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It includes the city's zoo and botanical gardens and the copper-domed Griffith Park Observatory. The fire forced the Los Angeles Zoo to put most of its 1,200 animals inside holding quarters, The Associated Press reported." So far the animals are faring fine," Jason Jacobs, director of marketing and public relations for the zoo.

The spreading flames prompted mandatory evacuations of up to 300 homes Tuesday in the Los Feliz neighborhood on the park's south side, according to the fire department. Residents were allowed to begin returning home Wednesday morning as the blaze edged westward, away from their residences.

Arson investigators were questioning a man in connection with the blaze, but he was not considered a suspect, Deputy Fire Chief Mario Ruda said Tuesday.
Firefighter Eric French said that it's believed the blaze began at a golf course on the north side of the park after someone threw a lit cigarette into the brush.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said there are no facts indicating the fire was caused by arson, adding that "it could have been an accident."
One man suffered second- and third-degree burns in connection with the blaze, the fire department said.

[Chicken Little]

I'm glad it's out.  Do you work for KTLA Livecam?

[livecam]

I'm glad it's out.  Do you work for KTLA Livecam?

Shhhhh...

[Chicken Little]

Cool.   Owww, wait.  Did you just DQ us from winning contests, because we have a friend works there?   

Say hi to Carlos and Michaela.   

[kitkatz]

Yes, the obeservatory you saw in those pictures just got refurbished and redone this last year. So they are pretty desperate to save it. They worked all night even with the helicopters to keep the fire off of the building.  Go firefighters!

[livecam]

Now as I go to bed tonight Catalina Island is on fire.  The fire season seems to start earlier every year with more fires and more severe fires.  Lets hope we get lucky this year and reverse that trend.

[Falkenbach]

Saw this on the news also. Poor old California gets an awful lot of fires, there seem to be pretty big ones every year. Being an Australian, I can relate to that. We have so many bushfires.

Stay safe everyone.

[okarol]

4000-Acre Fire Threatens Avalon on Catalina Island
Firefighters were struggling early Friday to prevent a 4,000-acre wildfire from reaching more homes on the edge of Santa Catalina Island's main city as residents and visitors fled the resort isle more than 20 miles off the Southern California coast.Flames were chewing at the city limits of Avalon, where hundreds of people lined up at its harbor (below). Seven buildings had already been damaged.

[Sara]

Wow that's a big fire.