LAFD needs Silver Lake to be refilled for fire emergencies.
I just talked with Inspector Travis of the LAFD for this area, and he said there is a fire in Elysian Park at this very minute where they could have used slk water.
Oh well, too bad. We don’t have any.
I went to a meeting last night in Griffith Park, and they are setting up a commemorative this week about the Griffith Park fire exactly a year ago. The vast majority of water to put that out came from Silver Lake.
Hope we don’t have any more commemoratives for fires in the park, or anywhere. This time we don’t have the water.
Captain Miyagishima called to reassure me that the LAFD can handle any emergency, even without Silver Lake, if hydrants are intact. (big IF in an earthquake, I think.) He was very kind and said heliports for helicopters can be set up anywhere, even a school, such as John Marshall. He said something interesting: that once a helicopter picks up all that heavy water it has to drop down after it flies up, and so for that reason, they can’t hold as much water from a heliport, since it can’t exactly drop down over the school and houses. (He didn’t say, but I imagine that would mean helicopters right next to houses might be more dangerous in air safety than in the middle of an open reservoir! ) He said he feels confidant that Battalion Chiefs in Silver Lake are prepared to use water in any emergency in this area.
My point is, why should they have to “make do” when Silver Lake has been so important in past big fires?
Donna Barstow
Griffith Park is the 2nd biggest park in the US, and I'm just the person to investigate it! I've lived here for over 25 years. I was part of the PROS Committee in Griffith Park Neighborhood Council and am on the Housing & Tenants Rights Committee in the Silver Lake NC. I'm in the LA Press Club, and you can find some of my articles in the LA Weekly and the Los Feliz Ledger. I'm a cartoonist for Parade Magazine, The New Yorker, LA Times, Slate, & most major media. Questions and contacts welcome.
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4 Comments
Brian Humphrey
Ms. Barstow,
Kindly allow me to add an additional voice of reassurance to that of Captain Miyagishima, and assure you that there are more than three dozen pre-identified and prepared sites, *not including* several open bodies of water such as Silver Lake, that are ready and able to support the aerial assault against wildfire in our City. I’m pleased to say that yesterday’s small brush fire in Elysian (not Echo) Park was confined to less than three acres and extinguished in less than ninety minutes. As you noted, the presence of water in Silver Lake was neither a factor or consideration in the battle against this particular fire – and has in recent years been a rarely used resource. We appreciate your overall confidence in the men and women of the LAFD, especially their planning and resourcefulness, in dealing with the perpetual challenge of wildfire in our region.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
Donna
Mr. Humphrey,
Your instructive input is always welcome!
I’m sure you are right, in that Silver Lake is rarely used in urban fires or in day to day work. In the 7 years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen it used only for emergencies and/or wildland fires: it was the main source of water for the disastrous Griffith Park fire last May at this same time, with 800 acres burned, and has been used many times for other smaller fires in the Griffith Park hills, and also several times in the hillsides of Burbank and Glendale, all of which I can see from here.
I’m always so grateful that the water was available in the Lake to assist the firefighting in an emergency or wildland fire situation. I wish it was now, too.
Many thanks to the LAFD’s quick victory in Elysian Park.
thunderboltfan
But the Ivanhoe Reservoir, literally right next to the SL Res., is full of water. That won’t do in a fire emergency?
Donna
Thunderboltfan, Ivanhoe is about half full, and is 1/5 the size of Silver Lake. But the real problem is, as I said in an earlier post, DWP started filling it with plastic bird balls made of HDPE, 3 weeks ago. HDPE is made from oil, and made by Exxon and Phillips. It is very flammable, and therefore that water is useless for fires!
However, in case of an earthquake, we will definitely be able to pick the bird balls out of it and drink it. Can’t wait.