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California Burning: Photographs from the Los Angeles Examiner

Fires - Griffith Park Disaster

On October 3, 1933, a fire swept through Griffith Park, a natural parkland in the eastern part of the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles. This photo shows the chaotic aftermath as a group of men tend to the wounded with their cars, clothes, and equipment scattered across the site. A few debilitated men lay sprawled out on the ground while another is carried on a stretcher. Frank Shearer, a superintendent of the park, spotted the fire at 2:26 pm. In an interview with reporters from the Los Angeles Examiner, Shearer explained, “I saw flame spurt from the brush at a point midway up the steep hill and about 150 yards south of the clubhouse. That spot was within 50 feet of a crew of men working on the hillside.” [1] Flames intensified due to shifting winds and many men were caught while trying to escape by ascending a steep ravine. The fire burned about 1,000 acres on the northeast side of the park, leaving about 125 injured and an estimated 70 or 80 people dead. Virtually all of the victims were members of county welfare program work crews that were popular during the Great Depression. After the first night, stretcher parties tasked with recovering the dead had only retrieved about 26 corpses. The rest were stuck amongst Griffith’s steep hills and canyons. [2]

W.R. Woods, a survivor of the tragedy, spoke about seeing many from his crew fall victim to the flames: “When I looked back I saw forty or more others running uphill. They kept dropping as the smoke caught up with them, then they’d crawl a little ways and lie still. And then the fire would catch them. I never heard a scream. They just died silently.” [3] After visiting the hospital which housed the wounded, Mayor Frank L. Shaw pledged aid to the victim’s families, vowed to uncover what caused the flames, and promised to hold the wrongdoers responsible. [4] A week after the fire, news surfaced that it may have been set intentionally. Fred W. Roewekamp, a landscape engineer, reported seeing an unidentified man in a suit running away from where the fire started. Additionally, the police arson squad reportedly found an empty tobacco can at the site, though the police research bureau deemed it unimportant to the case. [5] Later, District Attorney Buron Fitts ordered a grand jury investigation into the origin of the fire. At that point, it was still unknown whether the fire was set accidentally or intentionally, but Deputy District Attorney Percy Hammon said that, “Some person undoubtedly is responsible for setting the blaze.” [6] The culprit was never identified and the exact cause of the Griffith Park Fire is still a mystery. It remains the second most deadly wildfire in California’s history to this day.

[1] Official Sees Flames Start, Los Angeles Examiner, October 4, 1933, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, University of Southern California Special Collections

[2] 26 Bodies Taken From Ashes; 125 Reported Injured, Los Angeles Examiner, October 4, 1933, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, University of Southern California Special Collections

[3] Not a Scream as they died, Los Angeles Examiner, October 4, 1933, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, University of Southern California Special Collections

[4] Mayor Pledges City’s Aid to Victims’ Kin, Los Angeles Examiner, October 4, 1933, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, University of Southern California Special Collections

[5] Arson Hint Given at Inquest Into Griffith Park Fire, Los Angeles Examiner, October 12, 1933, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, University of Southern California Special Collections

[6] Griffith Fire Probe Ordered, Los Angeles Examiner, October 20, 1933, Los Angeles Examiner Collection, University of Southern California Special Collections

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3. Brush fire (Rio Hondo fire), 1951 Depicted is a brush fire emerging in Rio Hondo, a tributary of Los Angeles County whose name derives from the 'deep river' - Rio Hondo - that runs parallel to the San Gabriel River. Even as an area of land named after a body of water, fires still manage to ravage the land, and the efforts to mitigate this state of emergency caused no shortage of worry and damage. The fire spread rapidly through the brushes upon it's kindling, burning more than 50 acres of land and damaging two houses within a few hours [1]. The dry climate helped propagate the fire and spread embers to rooftops where the smoldering did most of its damage [5]. While the fire fortunately maintained itself within the riverbed [4], it didn't make the lives of the Los Angeles Fire Department easy. They had to storm together a 10 unit battalion that aggregated teams from Whitter and the State Department of Forestry to contain the flame. Shown in the image is the efforts of the fire department mobilizing to eliminate the flame. To that end they were able to shut down the fire in two hours, even deploying tractors with dozer blades in order to eliminate the immediate presence of fuel. While the nature of the fire was calmed quickly, quantifiable amounts of damage were done to the surroundings, and fire fighters were dispatched throughout the night to ensure embers didn't form again [1]. Fires like these continued to strike the area, and in 2005, volunteers and Angeles Chapter Staff came together to form a campaign called the Emerald Necklace which aims to plant trees and brushes that reinstate the park experience that perhaps once existed in the area [6].
4. Chatsworth Brush Fires, 1957
14. Warner Brothers Studio Fire (Burbank), 1952

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