Credit: The Walt Disney Family Museum Disney lore has it that Walt came up with the idea for Disneyland while spending the day with his daughters. Every weekend, he would take them to Griffith Park in Los Angeles and sit on the bench while his girls rode the merry-go-round.
It was on that bench that Walt came up with the idea of an amusement park where children and parents could enjoy time together. And from that bench came the idea for the “Happiest Place on Earth.”
Given the scale of the fires in Los Angeles, there was a concern that they would potentially destroy one of America’s great parks and the beginning of Disneyland. However, the fires did not reach Griffith Park until this week.
Earlier this week, an arsonist started a fire in the park below the Griffith Observatory, made famous from the closing scene of Rebel Without a Cause (1955). The fire consumed half an acre of brushland just below the observatory.
Luckily, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded quickly to the fire before it consumed any structures. It took the LAFD 31 minutes to put the fire out.
Less than an hour after the fire started, the Los Angeles Police Department was able to track down a suspect less than one and a half miles from the fire. The suspect has been taken into custody and charged with arson.
This fire at Griffith Park could have been much worse if it hadn’t been for the rapid response by the LAFD. Los Angeles is currently under another red flag warning with strong Santa Ana wind and low humidity returning to the area.
Besides Griffith Observatory, the park is home to the Los Angeles Zoo, Greek Theatre, Autry Museum of the American West, and the world-famous Hollywood sign. Griffith Park is 4,210 acres or 6.58 square miles, making it bigger than Disneyland, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom combined.
For now, the place where Walt created Disneyland is safe, thanks to the quick work of the Los Angeles Fire Department.