Brush fire near Getty Museum 90 percent contained
Getty Center
A wildfire near the Getty Museum in Southern California is now 90 percent contained. KPCC’s Steve Julian says the blaze broke out early yesterday afternoon and quickly spread through 80 acres.
The land around the Getty is rugged, and covered by thick brush. And, since California is in a drought, that brush is tinder dry. A fire department spokesman says that a crew, clearing some of that brush, accidentally started the fire. It broke out less than a mile from the Getty Museum, but ocean breezes carried it to the east, away from the property.
Nonetheless, museum officials evacuated about 2,400 people and shut down the ventilation system, so it wouldn’t carry smoke past its art collection. That collection includes illuminated manuscripts, photographs, and works by European painters, including Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh.
About a mile to the north, about 300 people attending a conference evacuated Mt. Saint Mary’s College. Fire officials say they should have the fire fully contained today.
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