#Ronald reagan library monkey free#

'There isn't a fire unit (here) at the moment because they're busy working on the fire close to the library. Two horses bolted into the street from the flaming barn, trailing a cloud of smoke. Soaring flames were only 30 yards (27 meters) away and blowing toward her house, with no firetrucks in sight.Īnimals could be heard shrieking in a barn burning next door on Tierra Rejada Road, where large ranches with riding stables and horse rings line the road.

Friends helped evacuate 11 horses from the property. It relies on a combination of high-tech defenses such as fireproof doors, sprinklers and an underground vault, as well as a decidedly no-tech measure - hundreds of goats brought in every year to graze on brush and create a firebreak.Īn army of firefighters helped protect the hilltop museum, and helicopters hit the flames, leaving some neighbors resentful as they frantically hosed down fires in the surrounding subdivisions and open ranchland.Īrmed with just a garden hose and wearing a mask, Beth Rivera watered down the perimeter of her large home to prevent embers from igniting dry grass and trees. The library, which holds the presidential archives and includes grounds with the graves of Reagan and his wife, Nancy, was well-equipped when flames surrounded it. SoCal Edison had not cut power in the area at the time this fire started. Electrical equipment has sparked some of California's worst wildfires in recent years and prompted utilities to resort to precautionary power outages. The cause was not yet determined, but Southern California Edison filed a report with state regulators to say it began near its power lines. The blaze near the Reagan library in Simi Valley was driven by strong Santa Ana winds that are the bane of Southern California in the fall and have historically fanned the most destructive fires in the region. With California tinder dry and fires burning in both the north and south, the state was at the mercy of strong winds, on high alert for any new flames that could run wild, and weary from intentional blackouts aimed at preventing power lines from sparking more destruction.

#Ronald reagan library monkey free#

Eventually, Reagan was able to break free of her grasp-but by then, he later recalled, the knot in his tie was “as small as my fingernail.” Far too tight to be untied by hand, the garment had to be cut off Reagan’s neck by a nearby crewmember.SIMI VALLEY - A wind-whipped outbreak of wildfires outside Los Angeles on Wednesday threatened thousands of homes and horse ranches, forced the smoky evacuation of elderly patients in wheelchairs and narrowly bypassed the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, protected in part by a buffer zone chewed by goats.

Startled, the actor tried to back away, but the harder he resisted, the harder she pulled, nearly suffocating our fortieth president in the process. Spying Reagan’s necktie, she grabbed it with both hands and began to pull. One day on the set, Peggy’s natural inquisitiveness got the better of her. According to witnesses, the vivacious and curious Peggy had been coached to perform hundreds of actions on command, including weeping, snarling, and puckering up. Known professionally as Peggy, the trained chimp in question was actually a female playing a role designed for the opposite sex (this was disguised by a tuft of fur carefully situated between her legs).