General Discussion

A massive wildfire reached Getty Villa in LA. How the museum protected its collection.

Christopher Cann
USA TODAY, January 8, 2025

As videos and images circulated of flames and smoke from an explosive wildfire approaching the Getty Villa museum in Los Angeles, art lovers worried the facility's world class collection of antiques and ancient artifacts would be burnt to a crisp.

Officials for the museum and education center were quick to dispel those concerns – citing extensive "fire mitigation efforts" they had implemented throughout the year.

Those efforts include clearing brush from the surrounding land, the maintenance of on-site water storage and "state-of-the-art air handling systems," which sealed off museum galleries and library archives from the pluming smoke outside. Another layer of protection: the double-walled construction of the galleries.

The blaze has had only limited impacts to the museum's grounds, which sits off the scenic Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. "Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but no structures are on fire, and staff and the collection remain safe," said a statement released on the facility's social media pages.

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The villa features the museum's collection of Roman and Greek antiquities and also has an outdoor theater that hosts classic and classically inspired theater productions, according to the museum's 2023 fact book. The rest of Getty's collection is housed at the Getty Center in Brentwood, California.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/08/getty-villa-museum-protection-from-pacific-palisades-wildfire/77542145007/