Los Angeles en feu / L.A. on fire

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May 8, 2007

UPDATE May 15, 2007: Matt's article "You're on fire, L.A.!"

Le feu vu de / the fire as seen from Barnsdall Park.

Juste au-dessus de chez nous, l'immense parc Griffith, le poumon de Los Angeles, est en feu: tout le monde roule au ralenti sur Hollywood boulevard, pendu à son téléphone portable pour décrire la scène apocalyptique aux amis dans un concert de sirènes de pompiers. L'horizon est rougeoyante et les flammes semblent se rapprocher dangereusement du magnifique observatoire Griffith récemment rénové (le bâtiment crème de style art déco coiffé d'un dôme sombre dans la scène finale du film de James Dean, La Fureur de Vivre.)

Ca sent le barbecue géant, des rues entières sont en train d'être évacuées, les coyotes descendent des collines racontent les témoins, et des joyaux architecturaux sont en danger: la maison Ennis Brown de Frank Lloyd Wright ou "Harvey House" de John Lautner visitée récemment pour un article dans le dernier numéro de Vogue.

Just above where we live, the huge Griffith Park which acts as the lungs of Los Angeles is on fire: everybody drives in slow motion on Hollywood Boulevard, glued to their cell phones, trying to describe the apocalyptic scene to their friends above the concert of wailing firetruck sirens. The whole horizon is red and burning, and the flames seem to be getting dangerously close to the superb, recently renovated Griffith observatory (the art deco cream-colored building with a dark dome that's the setting of the final scenes of the James Dean movie Rebel Without a Cause.)

The air smells like a giant barbecue, entire streets are being evacuated, coyotes are running down the hills say witnessses, and architectural jewels are in danger:Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis Brown house or the "Harvey House" by John Lautner, which I recently visited for an article in the last issue of Vogue -- the French edition.

Du parking lot de Fatburger sur Vermont avenue. Voir le blog du Los Angeles Times sur cet incendie apparemment provoqué par un jeune sans-abri assoupi avec une cigarette... Voir la gallerie de photos envoyées par les internautes.

From the parking lot of Fatburger, on Vermont ave. Check the Los Angeles Times blog on this fire, apparently started by a homeless youth dozing off with a cigarette.... See the user-generated gallery of photos.

Posted by Emmanuelle at May 8, 2007 8:44 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Oh my GOD!! This is so close to where I used to live! my flat was 5 minutes away from that fatburger, I cannot believe it! thanks for the news emmanuelle!

Posted by: est at May 10, 2007 6:18 AM

HI "Est"! I didn't realize you lived so close.

The good news is... that... the fire is over. 20% or so of the park has been destroyed but no houses were lost and the neighborhood should recover and the vegetation should grow back within 2 or 4 years

Posted by: Emmanuelle at May 13, 2007 10:24 PM