This is a developing story that will continue to be updated.
UPDATE JANUARY 9, 11.40 A.M. ET:
The beloved Bunny Museum in Altadena, CA, home to the world’s largest collection of objects related to rabbits, has been destroyed in the Eaton fire, which has claimed at least five lives and displaced thousands. The blaze remains uncontained.
In an Instagram post, owners Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski noted that the museum was “the last building to burn around us as Steve so valiantly hosed the building down all night long, but when the building next door went down, it spread to the museum.” They managed to save “only a few bunny items,” alongside their live cats and bunnies.
Founded in 1998, the Bunny Museum housed more than 46,000 bunny items ranging from plush toys and statues to ceramics and contemporary art objects. It was three times certified as the Guinness World Record Holder for “owning the most bunny items in the world,” in 1999, 2011, and 2023.
Frazee and Lubanski, as well as their two rabbits and three cats, are currently staying in a motel, according to an update on Facebook. In the same post, they expressed plans to fundraise to rebuild the museum. “Not a hoppy day, today,” they said, “but tomorrow will be hoppier with so many good wishes hoppin’ our way.”
Also in Altadena, the artist colony Zorthian Ranch, established more than seven decades ago by sculptor Jirayr Zorthian, has gone up in flames. According to the LA Times, which spoke to two of the community’s members, about 15 people, including artists, escaped the blaze, as well as a handful of animals on the 45-acre grounds.
“I don’t know what happened to the 40 sheep, pigs, and Brahman bull,” the ranch’s handyman Jason Deach told the outlet. “They ran into the woods, probably burned.”
The colony has started a GoFundMe fundraiser to aid in its recovery and rebuilding costs.
“We lost everything, 95 percent of the infrastructure of the ranch, all the artwork that Jirayr created, retaining walls made of wood burned down, the stage collapsed, the bridge is gone,” wrote community member Julia on the fundraiser page. “All that work is gone now, but the love remains and all I want is to be sure we won’t be having to sell this land to new developers, and we can retain some energy of what Altadena was.”
The fires have also destroyed local landmarks including the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a historic Jewish synagogue that stood for more than a century, and Palisades Charter High School, which served as the set for numerous film and TV productions including Carrie and Freaky Friday.
On Wednesday, the Palisades fire claimed Will Rogers’s historic ranch house and other structures on the Will Rogers State Historic Park, according to a news release by the California State Parks. The 31-room building, a memorial to the vaudeville actor which houses paintings and Western memorabilia, is on the National Register of Historic Places. State Park authorities managed to evacuate horses and several artifacts, including artworks, ahead of the fire when they closed the site.
Will Rogers’ former ranch house was destroyed by the Palisades Fire. Photo: California State Parks.
“California State Parks mourns the loss of these treasured natural and cultural resources, and our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area,” State Parks Director Armando Quintero said in a statement.
L.A. MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES TEMPORARILY CLOSE AMID DEVASTATING WILDFIRES
As of Wednesday afternoon, blazes in Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst have ripped through a total of 22 square miles, according to the AP, with the Eaton fire claiming two lives. About 155,000 people are under evacuation orders, per CNN.
“This morning, we woke up to a dark cloud over all of Los Angeles,” said L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “But it is darkest for those who are most intimately impacted by these fires. It has been an immensely painful 24 hours.”
Several L.A. museums and galleries have temporarily shuttered amid severe weather warnings. The institutions closed on Wednesday included the Hammer Museum (closed through Thursday), Huntington Library, the Broad (through Thursday), the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden (until further notice), MOCA Grand Avenue and MOCA Geffen (through Thursday), the Norton Simon Museum (through Friday), and the Getty Center (through Sunday). Fowler Museum has moved the opening of its upcoming show “Fire Kinship” from this weekend to January 23.
The L.A. outposts of galleries including Night Gallery, Sean Kelly, Various Small Fires, Lisson Gallery, and Jeffrey Deitch also closed for the day. Gagosian has postponed the opening of Alex Israel’s “Noir” exhibition, originally slated for January 9, until further notice.
GETTY VILLA THREATENED BUT “SAFE” AMID FIERCE BLAZE IN LOS ANGELES
A fast-moving wildfire in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, has reached the grounds of the Getty Villa Museum, which houses over 44,000 antiquities dating back to 6,500 B.C.E. The fire, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions, has prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents, with nearby landmarks like the Eames House and Villa Aurora also at risk.
Officials confirmed no damage to the Getty Villa Museum or its collection, but vegetation on the site has burned.
The Los Angeles Times first reported that an official from the L.A. fire department told the local radio that the Getty Villa Museum was “catching on fire” shortly before 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The fire, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon, has intensified due to low rainfall, low humidity, and strong Santa Ana winds. More than 30,000 people have been evacuated from the area. California governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
A video posted on X shows brush burning near the Villa. It is located along the Pacific Coast Highway and is 10 miles away from the affiliated Getty Center, which hosts most of the world-famous art collection.
Getty Villa. Photo: Shutterstock.
Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said Tuesday that while vegetation on the museum’s grounds has burned, “staff and and the collection remain safe.”
“Additional fire prevention measures in place at the Villa include water storage on-site,” said Fleming in the statement. “Irrigation was immediately deployed throughout the grounds 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 significant protection for the collections.”
The Getty Villa, which is modeled after the ancient Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy, holds an important collection of sculptures, vases, jewelry, frescoes, and mosaics from ancient civilizations. Its campus has been closed twice, in 2017 and again in 2019, due to threat of wildfire.
The nearby Villa Aurora artist residency and Thomas Mann House issued a statement noting that the situation in the immediate vicinity “is especially dire and we must expect the worst.”
“The impact of the fires on our two houses will only become fully visible in the coming days,” the statement continues. A spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that all fellows and employees of Villa Aurora and Thomas Mann House are safe.
While currently at risk, Case Study House 8, the historic Eames House built in 1949, also in the area of Pacific Palisades, was unharmed by the wildfires raging nearby as of 8 a.m. PT on Wednesday, but the windblown fires continue to claim other homes in the community and bring the fires nearer, according to managing director Bradley Kal Hagan.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and the Eames Foundation has taken every precaution to protect the site,” he said via email, adding that the foundation’s team worked quickly to remove a small number of objects from the house before they had to evacuate the building on Tuesday. Visits to the Eames House are cancelled until further notice.
“The loss and displacement caused by these fires is staggering, and we stand in solidarity with everyone affected during this incredibly difficult time,” Hagan added.
The picturesque Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which lies east of Los Angeles between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu is also home to many film, TV, and music stars and is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the U.S. As the fire spread, gridlocked roads forced some residents to abandon vehicles, while emergency responders went door-to-door enforcing evacuations. Since the fire broke out, more than 1,000 structures have been destroyed, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a news conference on Wednesday.
