The Griffith Park Fire
May 8th, 2007
The Griffith Park in Los Angeles is burning. I have a pretty good shot
of the fire through my home office window. The local station KCAL is also
broadcasting some good aerial coverage. I took this shot of my window
with the TV reflected in it. You can see the real and the televised flames
in it.
On the way home it looked as if the flames were dying down. The firemen
had it twenty percent contained only to flair up again as the sun went
down and the wind changed direction.
Unfortunately, the flames are not far from the Los Angeles Zoo which
is a home to many caged animals. At this time the TV is speaking of the
zoo being "evacuated." What they mean is that the visitors are
turned back (who goes to a zoo at 8:00 o'clock in the evening anyway).
The animals are still there. Locked up as ever.
This fire may be the biggest news out of Los Angeles other than Paris
Hilton going to jail.
At first they said the fire was started by a golfer who tossed a cigarette
and suffered burns while trying to put out the flames barehanded. My immediate
thought was that it must have been a Korean guy. OK, you can flame me
all you want but who else smokes while golfing in Los Angeles other than
Korean men?
A month ago we had a smaller but still formidable fire on the other side
of Griffith Park, just above the Warner Bros. Studios. It was started
by two out-of-state teens. The media reported that the seventeen-year-olds
were "playing with a lighter" and accidentally set the fire
off. I don't doubt it was intentional but when was the last time you saw
an older teenager play with a lighter for the hell of it. Those dudes
were toking, it's clear as day.
KCAL just announced that the today's fire was started by a homeless person.
There are many homeless encampments in the area. Homeless guys sometimes
smoke too.
There are rich encampments nearby. The neighborhood of Los Feliz (pronounced
as "Los Feel-is") gets wealthier as you go higher up the hill
(read: closer to the fiery inferno). Mandatory evacuations are underway
in some neighborhoods although it seems like the landmark Griffith Park
Observatory is still out of the fire's reach.
I'm sad to report that the prime cruising grounds in the park are now
engulfed in flames. And those are not flames of gay passion but of a real
bone melting fire. Yes, on many occasions while biking in the hills I
have observed healthy, good looking men come out of the bushes in Griffith
Park. Those days are over now.
Sit back and relax. This is just the beginning of another hot L.A. summer.
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