A New Coat of Paint

The fence has been painted and the planter replanted out in front of Oakridge. There is a rumor that the debris removal process is ahead of schedule. Looking over the fence I can only see that the crew is working far away. Everything close has been scraped off.

Signs of Life

The blackened pine trees are showing signs that they will recover.

Space 145

View From Stetson Park

Clean up has begun!

Within a day or two heavy equipment and big dump trucks could be seen inside working. One machine went around cutting the pieces into manageable sizes, another pushed the pieces into giant piles. Yet another picked up the piles and put them into the dump trucks.

They have cleaned the spaces closest to the wall near the temporary office and are working away.

Complete Access Closure

The city promised to close the park to all on March 4th. Additional security was hired, by March 9th the temporary offices were moved out of the park and a couple of gates were installed. A day or so later Loretta and I drove up to the gate and tried to get in. The security guard wouldn't let us in.

Last Chance!

We attended meetings with Commissioner Poizner, Mayor Villaraigosa, Supervisor Yaroslavsky, and Councilman Alarcon. There were just so many questions. FEMA, SBA, the state's Office of Emergency Management, LA City's Emergency Management Team, the insurance companies, and many volunteers came to these meetings. After much debate it has been decided that the City of Los Angeles would "be the lead agency in debris removal".

Those residents that haven't already done so would have one last chance to come into the park and sift through their ashes to recover any of their remaining property. What an ugly job.

Nothing better to do