Getty Villa employees recount how they saved the museum and its antiquities from the Palisades Fire
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. (KABC) -- As the raging Palisades Fire surrounded the 55-acre Getty Villa Museum in the hills of Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, everyone inside was ordered to evacuate.
But 17 members of the security and facilities team stayed behind to help save the landmark and the art inside -- some of which is thousands of years old.
"I've spent 32 years of my life here, so I feel that it's like a second home. We need to protect it," said Carl Gordon, a security supervisor at the Getty Villa. He and other members of the team spoke to ABC7 in an exclusive interview.
"We needed to do what we could to protect it as you would your home, as you would your neighbors home," Gordon said. And that's what he did.
Gordon, who has no training as a firefighter, said the extreme fire behavior gave him no choice but to jump in.
"We put a lot of fires out on that day on this property an extreme a lot. With a fire extinguishers. Water bottles. Whatever we could grab. Because everything was catching fire," he said.
Les Borsay, an emergency planning specialist with the J. Paul Getty Trust, added: "A lot of it was saved through the way it was built, absolutely. A lot of it was saved thank goodness to the firefighters coming through the area. But, a lot of it was saved by the staff that were here. Going on. Getting hotspots with basically ABC fire extinguishers. 5 and 10 pound that we're not designed for brush fire sort of stuff."
Staff members sealed all the doors leading to the galleries to keep smoke out. Although hundreds of trees burned around the property, no structures were lost at the 51-year-old museum. The art remained untouched by the fire.
During the 2006 renovation of the Getty Villa, a 50,000-pound water tank was installed. Not only was that water used to help save the Villa, but it was also used by firefighters to fill up their engines to save surrounding homes.
A massive cleanup operation continued this week to remove all the ash and address some smoke damage. The Getty Villa plans to re-open, but a specific date remains unclear because water and access remain issues.
"The Getty really cares about this community," said Gordon. "They've always cared about this community. We have events for the neighbors. We invite them to special openings so they care about this community and neighborhood."
Said Borsay: "I'm just amazed at the bravery and the dedication of the people I work with."
