Fire

 The LA Library Fire

How did I happen to be reading about two major tragic fires at the same time? I don’t know, but recently I’ve been rereading The Library Book by Susan Orlean, which documents the disastrous fire in 1986 that burned the downtown library in Los Angeles. Below is  a photo of the burning building. Long after the fire, in around 2003, I visited the library, which had been restored — at that time I was unaware of the fire, but now I see how horrible it was. 

Note that the reason I started to reread this book is that Susan Orlean has just published a new book, which made me think about going back to this one. My earlier review is here (link) and the NY Times review of the new book here (link)

News photo of the library on fire

Another Major Fire:

The Devastation of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The New York Times magazine currently has a story (link) about the horrendous forest fire at the Grand Canyon that destroyed the forest, the historic lodge, and 100 other buildings last summer.
We visited there on one of our cross-country trips in 2011.

Looking through the burned-out building towards the Grand Canyon.
What fabulous views the tourists at the lodge once enjoyed.

The fury and speed of a major fire is staggering to contemplate.

We took this photo at the North Rim Lodge in 2011 when we visited the Grand Canyon.
Its destruction would have been unimaginable at that time.

Photos from the web.

Blog post © 2026 mae sander