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05/09/2007: "Burning The Night Away"
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Summer's here, and the time is right for burning in the hills ...
As a lifelong SoCal resident, I can only marvel when I see the natural disasters some other regions of the country have to face each year. Whether the snows in Buffalo, or tornados in Tulsa, or hurricanes in NoLa, it seems that someone somewhere is in harm's way just about all the time. Compared to that, we have it pretty good here.
We do have one potential disaster that we're forced to deal with each year, and it's a nasty bugger - wildfires. The brochures won't tell you this, but we live in a desert plain here, and rainstorms can be few and far between. The hills dry out, and become tinder just waiting for a spark. Worse still, some of the best places to live - and the most expensive real estate - is nestled among the hills and canyons. That means there's no way to do controlled burns to remove the potential fuel from the hillsides. When they burn - and they will burn - it can get nasty quick.
Yesterday, as I was returning from lunch, I happened to hear a bulletin on one of the news stations. Seems their helicopter reporter was taking a break to have his car serviced in Glendale when he glanced over towards the Hollywood Hills - and was terrified by what he saw. He called the station and breathlessly reported seeing huge flames among the trees in Griffith Park - at 4,000 acres, the country's largest urban wilderness park. A mix of golf courses, hiking trails and public venues, it hasn't had a serious burn in decades. Well, it's getting one now.
The good news is that the park employees and police were able to get the zoo and other facilities evacuated smoothly, and as of now - 11AM - it looks like the major attractions, including the Greek Theater and the newly-renovated Griffith Observatory - are safe. Same for the folks living in Los Feliz on the south side of the park. They were evacuated last night, and the firefighters stages several heroic stands that saved the homes.
Rumor has it the fire was caused by a golfer and his errant cigarette. He's in the hospital with burns suffered when he tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire he inadvertantly started.
Stand by, because this one's not over yet ...
