Goats help save Reagan Library from blaze
A wind-whipped outbreak of wildfires outside Los Angeles yesterday threatened thousands of homes and horse ranches, forced the smoky evacuation of elderly patients in wheelchairs and narrowly bypassed the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, protected in part by a buffer zone chewed by goats.
With California tinder dry and fires burning in both the north and south, the state was at the mercy of gusty winds, on high alert for any new flames that could run wild, and weary from intentional blackouts aimed at preventing power lines from sparking more destruction.
The blaze near the Reagan library in Simi Valley was driven by strong Santa Ana winds that are the bane of Southern California in the fall and have historically
fanned the most destructive fires in the region. The library, which holds the presidential archives and whose grounds include the graves of Reagan and his wife, Nancy, was wellequipped when flames surrounded it. It relies on a combination
of high-tech defences such as fireproof vaults and a low-tech measure taken every year, when hundreds of goats are brought in to feed on the brush and create a firebreak.
An army of firefighters helped protect the hilltop museum, and
helicopters hit the flames, leaving some neighbours resentful as they frantically hosed down fires in the surrounding subdivisions and open ranchland.
The brush fire broke out before dawn between the cities of Simi Valley and Moorpark north of Los Angeles and exploded to more than 526ha, Ventura County officials said. About 7,000 homes, or around 26,000 people, were ordered evacuated, authorities said. Wind gusts up to109kmh were reported in the area, forecasters said. –AP