LOS ANGELES – Firefighters near Los Angeles are battling to keep a wind-driven wildfire away from Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles, according to KTLA.
A massive fire exploded near the library in Simi Valley early Wednesday morning. Melissa Giller, a spokeswoman for the library, says it is being protected by firefighters as a wind-driven wildfire burns nearby in hills northwest of Los Angeles.
Giller says the portion of the library closest to the fire is a pavilion housing a former Air Force One aircraft. The portion of the library housing archives faces away from the fire.
The library has been closed for the day.
The blaze, dubbed the Easy Fire, erupted around 6:15 a.m. in the hills along Tierra Rejada Road, just north of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
As of 10 a.m. it has burned about 1,300 acres and was threatening 6,500 homes, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The library is “a very big concern for us,” Capt. Brian McGrath told KTLA, adding that resources have been deployed to protect the facility.
“It’s a pretty tough situation here,” said the library’s executive director, John Heubusch. “There’s never been fires this close to the library. It’s a place of a national treasure and the flames are licking right up against it.”
He added, “There’s a whole lot of heroes protecting the president’s library.”