Friends of Griffith Park’s evening with Mike Eberts, author of Griffith Park: A Centennial History can now be heard in its entirety (at bottom).
On October 3, 1933 fire broke out in the Mineral Wells Canyon near the golf clubhouse. According to Mike Eberts “It seemed a small fire and the welfare workers presented virtually unlimited manpower to put it out.” And as one survivor recounted, “It was just a lark to us, it didn’t look dangerous then. We laughed about it and started down, to bat the fire out in a hurry.” By the time flames were finally extinguished, this had become the deadliest conflagration in the history of Griffith Park when 29 laborers lost their lives.
from the back of the photo International News Photos /Los Angeles Bureau / OCT 4 1933 The Valley of Death in L.A. Fire LOS ANGELES, CALIF.:: Mute evidence of the terrible struggle for life that many firefighters lost in this flame-swept ravine in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, Calif. shows bodies pointed out by arrows of victims that were burned to death as they crawled up sides of valley between Dam and Mineral Wells Canyons. It is estimated that 60 men perished in the 1000-acre inferno that made a crimson hell out of Griffith Park. Thirty bodies have been recovered and 125 men were badly burnt.
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