| Show MORE L. L A. A FIRE VICTIMS FOUND Suspect Held in I LA Blaze Deaths Estimated at 50 Two Days Required for Official ial Check ot of f. Dead Relatives Crowd Morgues Morgues- 3 for Identification F n Br fly Associated Press Prell LOS ANGELES Oct 4 4 Additional 4 nal bodies retrieved today to to- day from the charred wastes of oX yesterdays yesterday's Griffith park parl forest ire fire increased to 35 the number of known victims who were trapped in a end box cany canyon l while fighting the blaze the coroners coroner's office reported and it was believed that the death list eventually might reach half a hundred Four charred bundles which a deP a-deP- dep deputy uty coroner said he beli bei believed belied ved ed to be bodies of dr additional victims were brought out this morning orning Reports t that at other groups of bodies had been found which would increase the dea death list to more than 50 remained fied tied Meantime Hollywood Honywood detectives reported re ported the arrest of a man giving the name of Robert D D. D Barr 29 of Culver City on suspicion of arson in connection connee tion with the tragic which Fire Chief Ralph J J. Scott said today occurred because inexperienced men were permitted ta to go in and try t tight to fight ight a type of blaze they knew nothing noth noth- ing lag about FOUND NEAR NEAn FIRES r The detectives said Barr was held after being found in the vicinity ot of several new but small fIre arted in th the park early today Officials said it may b be two days before a final check check of the death toll can be bernade made because many of the 37 4 R. R F C. C workers employed in the park did not report today for a roll call One of the bodies was identified today today to to- day as that of James Cortez by his widow who Is serving on a superior court jury Throughout the night thousands thousands' of relatives of the workers who had been given unemployment relief jobs jobson on park roads crowded about the tho co county nty morgues and hundreds were admitted today in efforts to m make ke identifications When arrested Barr had bad several soaked kerosene-soaked rags in his possession posses posses sian sion police said He made no statement state state- ment The arson angle was Injected Into the investigation after police had worked on the theory that a tossed into the brush b by one of the victims caused the fire The 20 or 25 bodies yet are reported to lie he in a deep ravi ravine e. e Approximately men are arc in hospitals hospitals hos hos- many of them injured ser seriously serious us- us ly Iy in the mad scramble up the sides side of the boxlike canyon after a strong wind fanned the brush fire which Continued on Pare Pace Two SUSPECT HELD HELDI I IN L L A A. A BLAZE BLAZEI I Continued from Pare Page One they hey were attempting to extinguish into a raging inferno MORGUE CROWDED Throughout the night thousands of relatives of the more than workers work ers on park roads crowded about the county morgue and a hastily improvised imp improvised mortuary A cordon of po police ce was required to hold them in check checkas as they watched through tear-dimmed tear eyes yes the thelong long string of stretchers carried car car- 1 ried ned through the doors So badly were the bodies burned that hat not a single victim bad had been identified this morning Relatives were to be permitted to view the bodies x today in an attempt to tolden- tolden Iden- Iden Wy them Frank Merrill superintendent of Griffith park blamed the catastrophe on lack of experience in brush f firefighting firefighting fire fire- fighting on the part of those who v died and the men who sent them into the canyon of death Fire Chief Chic Ralph Scott corroborated rated Merrills Merrill's views by the statement state state- ment that it was suicide to send those hose men into a In walled canyon where entrance was was was' blocked by raging rag rag- ing lag flames and whose only other means of exit was a winding cow path up the wall of the ravine Blindly following orders of their foremen more than a thousand work workmen men streamed into moo the canyon yester- yester day lav to extinguish a brush fire Deep ep ilithe in the te canyon canyon a small smail area was burning There was little or no wind the flames and smoke from the burning scrub oak growth in Iii the canyons canyons canyon's canyons canyon's can can- yon's floor shooting straight upward Suddenly a a wind whipped down into nto the canyon fanning the blaze into a furnace of death sweeping outward outward out out- ward from its center In a few seconds see sec the approximately 1500 men men who had entered the canyon were scrambling up the steep sides of the thc anyon w warn wall CROWD UP CANYON The cow path became a aline line of f lighting fight light ing ng sweltering ring cursing praying men The strong clambered over the weak With death crackling at their heels the workmen struggled upward I. I Survivors said the flam flames s jumped as high as feet teet at the time catching catching catch catch- ing up with and arid bringing down the struggling The men died in twos suffocated b by bythe bythe the walls walts of smoke that rolled over them or struck down by flames which leaped as much as feet at a time One pair pm almost reached the th canyons can yens yen's rim One of the of-the the two a stalwart had been pushing his fellow struggler upward when the blaze cut cut- them down Always they were side by side these pairs when the end came And al always always al al' ways their back were arched with heads head and a d the eye sockets staring at the canyons canyon's rim The men were pick and shovel shove workers recruited from all aU walks o olife of life lie In the R. R F. F Los C. Angeles county move to combat unemployment ment with park work They were working on the roads of the park largest argest in the Los Angeles recreational system when they were ordered Into the ra ra- ra vino and told to beat the fire out with wit the shovels and cut a fire break I ORDERS INVESTIGATION Mayor Frank L. L Shaw ordered a thorough investigation He said i if 11 carelessness or negligence arc are found foum I to be the cause the city will cooperate cooper ate with the county in fixing the re re- He promised also that the i city will provide relief for the families fain fara hUes illes of the victims The fire swept over 1000 acres o of uninhabited land thickly studded with brush before it was Vas controlled by hundreds of firemen and some 2000 drafted workers It spread rapidly with the aid of the customary afternoon wind from th the ocean ocean and a a. temperature of 91 degrees degrees degrees de de- de- de grees the hottest October day in Lo Los Angeles in nearly half a century The fire scene Is about ten miles from downtown Los 3 Angeles |
