Thursday, May 10, 2007

Griffith Park Fire


(Photo-LA Times)
If you have missed the news lately, you might not know that a large portion of Griffith Park has been burned by fires.
Burnt park not down for the count - Los Angeles Times: "The fire that engulfed almost a quarter of Griffith Park was brought under control Wednesday, but not before destroying familiar natural landmarks and leaving hillsides charred and barren."
[snip]
The Griffith Park fire destroyed more than 800 acres. One of the largest municipal parks in the United States, the 4,200-acre property was bequeathed as a Christmas gift to Los Angeles in 1896 by Col. Griffith Jenkins Griffith, who made a fortune as a gold speculator. All of the park's buildings survived.
[Read the article--link above--to see which points of interest are temporarily lost to the flames.]

It is an extraordinary part of the city, and it is the one of two places (other than the Pacific Ocean) that I tell visitors to LA that they must see. I proposed to my wife there. I hiked there when I was in high school with friends, especially at night, to see the dazzling city below and a clearer vision of the universe above.

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