LA on fire, former Hollywood reporter gives his view
In the wake of the Palisades fires in LA, Emmarentia local Sewlyn Klass recounts time based in the city as a foreign press correspondent during alarming heat-wave conditions.

The recent devastation sweeping across Los Angeles with continuous raging bush fires fanned by the Santa Ana desert wind, prompted memories for Emmarentia resident, Selwyn Klass.
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During the mid-70s, as a Hollywood-based foreign press correspondent, Klass noted, in his journal at the time, of the prolonged fury of the Santa Ana winds, in alarming heat-wave conditions well into the year’s end. “The arid Hollywood Hills, where I was living at the time, within sight of the iconic Hollywood sign, seemed, alarmingly, an instant tinderbox,” he recalls, adding, “To venture along Hollywood’s legendary Walk of Fame, with it’s usual capacity crowds at the famed forecourt of Grauman Chinese Theatre, where legendary stars have left their cemented autographed handprints for posterity, was, against the fury of that wind, near impossible.”
Previously, Klass was invited to a preview of the disaster-styled film Earthquake at the Chinese Theatre. To add an air of authenticity, a special sensurround system was installed. He said LA is situated along the San Andreas Fault and is prone to regular tremors. “Monthly, air-raid signals would alert residents to be aware of safety precautions. One got used to a precarious lifestyle. Like the illusion of movies,” he considered.
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In the film Earthquake, many of the landmarks along Hollywood Boulevard seemingly disappear, including Tower Records, ingeniously built like a pile of records with a needle through it – like a jukebox. Like life imitating art we are now bombarded with images, streaking in real-time, of the LA inferno, which has decimated thousands of homes, but Klass knows the people of LA aren’t beaten.
“I marvel at the tenacity of the human-spirit,” says Klass. “Particularly poignant being the heroic firemen, against all odds, seen rescuing precious pets and saving irreplaceable family photo-albums. Shattered lives to be rebuilt, renewed by salvaged memories.”
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