Local News in Brief : Fire Burned Most of O’Melveny Park

The wind-whipped fire that struck the northern San Fernando Valley on Friday blackened almost all of the 714-acre O’Melveny Park, and experts said it may take years before it again offers hikers a pristine combination of natural vegetation amid mountainous terrain.

“Most of the park is burned up,” said Don Mullally, on-site manager and senior gardener at the second largest city-owned park, located above Granada Hills. “People used to come here for the scenic beauty of the grassy meadows and the trails through the natural brush . . .

“It is all pretty ugly right now.”

While the smell of smoke remained in the air, authorities were beginning to study environmental destruction throughout the fire’s 3,200-acre burn area. This week, foresters and soil experts will determine whether and where they need to plant fast-growing rye seed on burned hillsides, providing quick soil cover to help avoid flooding and mudslides in winter rains.

Fanned by Santa Ana winds up to 70 m.p.h., the fire damaged or destroyed 40 homes before heading north into the Santa Susana Mountains, where it was extinguished Saturday.