According to initial reports from the museum and the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the rapidly spreading Pacific Palisades fire in Southern California reached the Getty Villa grounds on the afternoon of Tuesday, January 7.
Alexandria Sivak, associate director of News and Media Relations at the Getty, said in a statement that the fire had destroyed some trees and vegetation on site, but that staff and collection remained safe.
“Fortunately, Getty has made extensive efforts to clear brush from the area throughout the year as part of fire suppression efforts,” Sivak said. “Additional fire prevention measures at the Villa include on-site water storage. Irrigation was immediately deployed across the site on Tuesday morning. Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by state-of-the-art air-handling systems. The double-walled construction of the galleries also provides important protection for the collections.”
The Getty Villa houses the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum about 44,000 ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan works of art in a building modeled after the first-century Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy. Four gardens surrounding the structure feature a reflecting pool, fountains, sculptural replicas and herb plots.
LAFD Public Information Officer Margaret Stewart confirmed this Hyperallergic that the Getty Villa is in the fire evacuation zone and that the museum structure remained undamaged. No injuries were reported in the immediate area.
The fire in the Palisades started around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and quickly spread to over 1,200 hectaresdriven by strong gusts of wind and dry conditions. By evening, the fire had grown to more than 2,900 hectares and more than 30,000 people were forced to evacuate.
The Getty Villa will remain closed at least until Monday, January 13, Sivak’s statement said.
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