$27,000 Restoration Gift : Charred O’Melveny Park Gets a Hand

Restoration efforts at fire-ravaged O’Melveny Park in Granada Hills were boosted Thursday by a $27,000 donation to rebuild fences and repair sprinkler systems destroyed in December’s Porter Ranch brush fire.

Warren Christopher, chairman of the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, presented the check to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley during a brief ceremony at the 714-acre park, known before the fire for its pristine vegetation, chaparral and grasslands.

“We were particularly saddened that the fire damaged so much,” Christopher said. “This park has a particular sentimental value to our firm.”

Most of the land was donated to the city in 1973 for park use by the law firm’s late senior partner, John O’Melveny. The hilly park, which has more than 10 miles of trails, has become a popular hiking area.

The fire, which destroyed or damaged 40 homes and burned 3,200 acres, charred the hillsides of O’Melveny Park, burning nearly all of the area’s trees, shrubs and wildflowers, and causing more than $300,000 in damage to park equipment.

An old red barn that the city had planned to renovate for use as a visitors center was destroyed.

Although the city Recreation and Parks Department has applied for $310,000 in state disaster funds to rebuild the barn and replace equipment, the law firm’s donation has allowed the city to purchase a truck and equipment to immediately begin restoration work, said James Hadaway, department general manager.

Parks officials decided in late December to allow the ashen hillsides to regenerate naturally and will not seed the park with ryegrass, which is not native to Southern California.

Green vegetation already tinges some of the park’s slopes. It will take up to three years for chaparral to grow back, officials said. Park rangers said that despite the charred trails, hikers have been visiting the park on weekends.