Wildfires threaten homes, bypass the Reagan library
SIMI VALLEY, Ventura County — A windwhipped outbreak of wildfires outside Los Angeles threatened thousands of homes and horse ranches Wednesday, forced the evacuation of elderly patients in wheelchairs and narrowly bypassed the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, protected in part by a buffer zone chewed by goats.
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 cause was not yet determined, but Southern California Edison filed a report with state regulators to say it began near its power lines. Electrical equipment has sparked some of California’s worst wildfires in recent years and prompted utilities to resort to precautionary power outages. SoCal Edison had not cut power in the area at the time this fire started.
The brush fire broke out before dawn between the cities of Simi Valley and Moorpark north of Los Angeles and exploded to nearly 1,500 acres, Ventura County officials said. About 7,000 homes, or around 26,000 people, were ordered evacuated, authorities said.
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 hightech defenses such as fireproof vaults and a lowtech 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 neighbors resentful as they frantically hosed down fires in the surrounding subdivisions and open ranchland.
Library spokeswoman Melissa Giller saidthe flames came within about 30 yards of the property.
Fire crews also continued trying to snuff out a wildfire in the celebritystudded hills of Los Angeles that destroyed a dozen homes on Monday. About 9,000 people, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and LeBron James, were under evacuation orders.
The National Weather Service issued an extreme redflag warning for high winds for much of Southern California through Thursday evening, with some gusts expected to reach 80 mph.
No deaths have been reported from the fires, but toppled trees claimed three lives.