Firefighters honored on 1st Anniversary of Griffith Park Fire

Councilmember LaBonge and Mayor Villaraigosa honored firefighters on the 1st Anniversary of the May 8-9 Griffith Park Fire.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilmember Tom LaBonge honored firefighters from many departments for their valor during the Griffith Park Fire of May 8-9, 2007 on the first anniversary of the blaze. About 1,200 acres of the park burned in the devastating fire but there were no deaths or injuries and only one property in the adjoining neighborhood was damaged.

“It’s a tribute to the training, knowledge and skill of the Los Angeles Fire Department and the many other agencies that participated in fighting this devastating blaze that no one was hurt or killed and only one home was damaged,” said Councilmember LaBonge. “The Mayor and I want to recognize the great work that firefighters and rangers did one year ago during the fire.”

The Mayor, Councilmember, Los Angeles Fire Chief Douglas Barry and Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri also recognized the many community and non-profit organizations that have engaged in the Griffith Park Recovery effort over the past nine months. The recovery effort, which included the use of hydro-mulch to prevent erosion, cost about $4.2 million.

Those who donated funds to the effort include the Los Angeles Dodgers, actress Victoria Principal; the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council; the Los Feliz Improvement Association; the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council; Sophia Muller and Casey Parsons; New Orleans City Parks; Equestrian Trails, Inc. and Paulette Smokovich.

TreePeople, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Pacific Asian Volunteer Association, NBC/Universal, Sidley Austin LLP and many local community groups worked with Council District 4 to organize thousands of volunteers to plant more than 200 native trees and weed out invasive non-native plants as another part of the recovery effort.

The changing local ecological conditions due to fire devastation and re-growth will be documented by prominent scientists as part of The Santa Monica Mountains BioBlitz, May 30 - 31, in association with National Geographic and The National Park Service.

Hundreds of Scientists, Naturalists, Community Leaders, Schoolchildren, Volunteers will count and record as many species as possible living in the Santa Monica Mountains.

For more information about the Santa Monica Mountains BioBlitz, registration, volunteer and participation opportunities, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/bioblitz.