Griffith Park in Los Angeles is a huge 4100 acre park and recreation area in the heart of Los Angeles, covered with oak trees, wild sage and manzanita. You've seen the white Hollywood sign on the hillside? It's in Griffith Park, as are also the Los Angeles Zoo, Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theater, Travel Town and Museum of the American West.

Yesterday a fire went wild, exploding in the swirling Santa Ana winds and burned 600 acres of Griffith Park (so far). At this time of year there is normally a cool damp wind off the ocean at night to ameliorate the situation, but not last night; the wind kept up and the fire burned, burned.

Can you imagine trying to evacuate the animals from the zoo? It is a major zoo; there were trucks and the disaster response team from the SPCA, but the largest animals they could handle were antelope or llama-sized. If the fire swept over the zoo, there was no refuge for elephants, tigers, bison, etc., except their enclosures and moats.

Evacuations were also conducted for human beings, as the winds shifted and dry brush exploded into flame, the very air itself burning. Also, a neighborhood southeast of the park, plus a Magnet elementary school, golf courses and a boys camp. It was a red alert.

Los Angeles has had less than 4 inches of rain this year. We are Mediterranean Sub-Tropical becoming Desert. Don't tell me about global warming!