Californian Wildfire Gets Within 50 Feet of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Wildfires continue to blaze in California, threatening thousands of homes, and causing the evacuation of the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
Around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, a brush fire, which has now been named "the Easy Fire" broke out in the area, and quickly spread as windy conditions pushed it forward, causing Ventura County to issue a mandatory evacuation warning for the area.
The largest presidential library in the nation announced its closure on Instagram, in a caption which noted, "Currently there is no danger to the the library."
A post shared by Reagan Presidential Library (@reaganlibrary40) on Oct 30, 2019 at 7:11am PDT
The library's website also shared a note thanking the firefighters protecting the area:
"The Reagan Library is closed today due to the fires. thank you to all the first responders working so hard to protect our area."
Per Reuters, at one point the flames were less than 50 feet from the institution, which houses historic documents from the Reagan administration and the Cold War, and where both the President and his wife Nancy were laid to rest. But firefighters were able to prevent damage through liquid air drops.
Here is a look at the #EasyFire from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley:https://t.co/zVIZselbnD pic.twitter.com/EGAXTkZG0i
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 30, 2019
"It's a whole lot of fire trucks, a whole lot of heroes out here protecting President Reagan's library," said John Heubusch, the library's executive director. "They're doing a heroic job."
According to CNN, library spokesperson Melissa Giller also noted that the first responders' efforts were possibly aided by goats, who are employed by the library to create a firebreak surrounding the complex by eating the dry brush that would have fueled the fire.
“We were told by one of the fire fighters that they believe that fire break made their job easier,” Giller said. “The brush only went so far, it didn’t reach the library, because the goats ate it all.”
She now feels confident that the building has been spared.
“All the flames are gone, all we see are charred hillsides,” Giller said. “We feel the worst is over and the Reagan library is safe.”
Other structures, unfortunately were not so lucky. Reuters reports that "by 6 p.m. the Easy Fire had burned over 1,650 acres, forced around 30,000 people to evacuate their homes, and destroyed some structures, according to fire authorities."
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