The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has been saved from a 1,300-acre fire burning in Simi Valley, California, Reagan Foundation Executive Director John Heubusch said Wednesday afternoon.
The library was evacuated Wednesday morning after a massive brush fire broke out in Simi Valley and Moorpark.
"It's a pretty tough situation here," Heubusch said earlier in the day. "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."
The fire has yet to be contained.
"The fire outflanked us very rapidly [Wednesday], pushed by those 40- to 50-mile-per-hour winds," Ventura County Fire Assistant Chief Chad Cook said at a news briefing. "We did up to 65 miles per hour this morning, which made long-range spotting very, very dangerous and also quickly outpaced the initial attack resources."
The Reagan library is the largest presidential library in the nation.
Library spokeswoman Melissa Giller said around midmorning the hilltop museum in Simi Valley was not damaged. She said that the flames came within about 30 yards of the property but it was protected by aircraft dropping water and by a firebreak, or a buffer zone cleared of brush.
Wind gusts up to 68 mph were reported in the area, forecasters said. Other spots elsewhere in Southern California were buffeted by even stronger winds. The wind knocked over a truck along a freeway in Fontana.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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