The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, has been evacuated after the Sandy Fire spread to over 836 acres.
The fire broke out around 11 a.m. PDT on Monday morning and quickly expanded to over several hundred acres in the city just west of the San Fernando Valley in Ventura County. No cause of the fire has yet been identified, per Forbes:
The same area was placed under wind advisory through 3 p.m. PDT, according to the National Weather Service, with forecasters predicting winds up to 20-30 miles per hour and gusts that could reach up to 50 miles per hour.
The fire, which Cal Fire named the Sandy Fire, was at 0% containment as of Monday afternoon, according to the state agency.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that her city’s fire department has been deployed to work with Simi Valley and Ventura County firefighters to contain the blaze.
“While there is no immediate threat to Angelenos, we encourage all residents to stay alert and heed official guidance,” Bass wrote.
The Reagan Presidential Library faced a similar threat in April, before that fire was extinguished within 30 to 45 minutes of starting.
“The fire was relatively small, scorching between five and seven acres before forward progress was stopped by the Ventura County Fire Department around 2:30 p.m., officials said,” KTLA reported at the time. “Video posted to X showed a helicopter dousing lingering hot spots with water while ground crews dug containment lines.”
“The Reagan Library was not technically threatened; no structures were, and no evacuations were ordered. Library staff chose to self-evacuate out of an abundance of caution, according to the fire department. Presidential Drive, the main road in and out of the library complex, was closed for a short time,” it added.
While some structures have been set ablaze, the exact number of homes lost remains unknown at this time.
