Tragedy in Griffith Park

In the early years of the Great Depression, Los Angeles used borrowed money through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and a local bond measure to fund relief programs for the unemployed, putting large numbers of men to work in Griffith Park maintaining trails, clearing brush, and building Vista Del Valle Drive. On October 3, 1933, records showed 3,784 relief workers in the park. The day reached 100 degrees at noon, and around 2 p.m. a fire was spotted near today's Boy's Camp in the canyon below. Many workers carrying shovels and wet sacks hiked down a narrow trail to fight what appeared to be a small fire, but a sudden hot, dry wind caused it to flare up. When the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived, it found many poorly equipped men unable to stop the rapidly growing blaze. Workers who ran downhill were safe, while those who tried to run up the trail were exposed to the advancing flames. By nightfall the winds had subsided and the fire was brought under control, but 29 men died in one of the deadliest wildfires in California history, and the cause of the fire was never determined.

Los Angeles, California · United States