This hi-tech map from the National Weather Service shouts one thing: A major cold snap is hitting the U.S. The National Weather Service needs to upgrade from Microsoft Paint.
Locally, you’ll see that the SoCal coast is circled with the note “Enhanced Fire Danger, Jan 31-Feb 3″ – if you live or often park in a Red Flag neighborhood, mark these dates on your calendar as parking restrictions will likely be enforced then. This means your car will be could by the LAFD without notice.
Last evening, firefighters on the way to a brewing Hollywood Hills “conflagration” experienced what could have been a disaster:
Due to the narrow roads and an array of cars, both legally and illegally parked along the roadways, the additional Fire Companies experienced extreme difficulty navigating their way into the neighborhood to assist their comrades… Had the wind been blowing, and Firefighters would have encountered these same navigational problems, the outcome could have had been disastrous. This incident serves as a vivid reminder as to why the City has recently enacted the “Red Flag/No Parking” restrictions in high hazard locations of the City.
Red Flag Days are not in effect as of this writing – however, to check on their status visit the LAFD’s Red Flag info site, or dial 311.
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Born in Ohio, grew up in Connecticut, but have lived in Los Angeles longer than anywhere else. To make money to move to L.A. I worked as a walking fire alarm at a nuclear power plant. Upon arrival in the city I was an au pair by day and a bouncer by night. Since then I've made ends meet as an audience wrangler, assistant to an investigative reporter, flower delivery guy, production assistant, audience warm up guy for Ozzy Osbourne, videographer, event producer, red carpet manager, writer, and blog consultant, but the highlight was my visit to Skywalker Ranch where I had to help George Lucas wire speakers to an old stereo. In between it all I've volunteered as a nude model, served jury duty, nearly won Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (the Disneyland version... I only lost a cruise, not money), been punched in the face by a complete stranger, was stalked and killed by a squirt gun assassin squad, and once loaned $5 to Heath Ledger that he never paid back.
I can be reached at unsomnambulist at gmail dot com.
I really wasn’t paying much attention to the Red Flag Alerts, as I don’t live in the hills.
That said, I do have many clients who do. Since there is limited parking in their neighborhood, I might actually need to cancel appointments during an alert. Similarly, visits to friends and family might also be effected, so it pays to stay informed whether you live in an effected Red Flag Alert area or not.
Does any know anything about the fire on Kirkwood last night (other than what’s on the LAFD blog)? I live off of Kirkwood, so I tried to take a “long-cut” at Gould and weave my way back over to Kirkwood. About 30 cars ended up having to turn around on the extremely narrow Gould to let one of the fire trucks pass. Nerve-racking! And definitely a little peek into all the bad things that could happen traffic-wise if there ever was a serious fire in the Canyon.