California Fires So Sad

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/09/la.fire/index.html

Brush fire scorches L.A.'s landmark Griffith Park

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Firefighters battled through the night against an urban brush fire that scorched some 600 acres of Los Angeles' historic Griffith Park.

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.

Cooler temperatures helped overnight, but firefighters worry that winds could pick up after dawn.

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, CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said. (Watch what concerns firefighters on Wednesday )

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, told AP.

I'm surprised there are trees left to burn!

But most places go 10, 20, even 50 years without a fire, and the fuel grows back fast during our occasional rainy seasons.

Man, that drought must be worse than reported.

so yeah it's bad.

and occasional fires all through the winter and into the spring. We have been having a lot of HOT DRY winds which normally belong in Aug/Sep/Oct. Last I checked it was early May.

Griffith Park had a big fire about 20 years ago that I remember, and this has burned some of the same areas. I think it's actually good that this fire happened now and not in the summer. Get it out of the way before our fire crews get completely overwhelmed and unable to respond adequately.

This was essentially a year without rain. The good part is that brush doesn't grow as well when there is no rain, so there was no fuel buildup over the past year. The bad part is, this should be nice cool, humid weather right now, through mid-June. It's EXTREMELY dry, and my skin is getting itchy months ahead of schedule. Too hot to go walking. Ick.

Even January.

They're NECESSARY. Socal is chaperral-- it's fire adapted and needs to burn periodically. The irony of fire prevention is that it leads to fuel buildup and more intense fires in the future-- that's what much of the west is experiencing now. The only solution is to allow the natural fire cycle to reestablish, and for humans to somehow learn to live with fire rather than trying to suppress it.

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/calif_chaparral.htm

That's like asking me to burn down my backyard because it's natural. I agree that should be the attitude for forests and large acreage but can't you understand the impact of a fire on a city's historic location? I haven't even been there but I can imagine how special a place it must be for that community with memories shared across generations. Some things should be preserved and fought for.

...intense fire seasons. I'm sorry, we can't have it both ways. If we let them burn, the fire cycle will return to frequent, but less intense fires. If we suppress fires, they will still happen, and the less frequent fires WILL be mega-fires. You can't replace ecology with wishes, I'm afraid.

on edit-- and yes, as more and more people move into the woods, they simply have to accept the risk to their backyards.

the most part. The zoo and observatory ate JUST FINE and not at risk. The hiking trails are STILL THERE. The vegetation REQUIRES fire periodically to maintain optimum health.

This isn't some pretty, grassy, wooded lawn and oak trees. It's Ceanothus and sage and cactus and all sorts of stuff full of TICKS. And less than 20% of the park burned. This happens on a regular basis.

I didn't know that. I'm an East coaster so it was like Washington Sq park was being destroyed in my head. I was especially worried about the animals as well as any nearby homes. I'll go back to having my heart bleed for other myriad of reasons less this one now. ;) :hi:

TRASH, too. The place gets to be a pigsty.

At 30000 feet, a wildfire at night is a stunning display of nature.

Unfortunately, like tornadoes in the plains, and hurricanes on the gulf coast; wildfires are a part of living in so-cal. It's just something that goes with the territory.

Heres a pic from my backyard 3 years ago...

warming. Does all that ash and smoke in the air act as a screen to block the sun? Because I know volcanic ash does it -- the earth's temperature dropped a whole degree after Mt Pinatubo erupted.