“Forgotten Hollywood”- Hearst Castle Closes Due to Blaze…
Manny P. here…
A wind-driven wildfire in central California led to more evacuations, and the closure of the Hearst Castle on Saturday. Flames from the 8-day-old wildfire in San Luis Obispo County came as close as 3 miles to the national historic landmark, prompting California State Parks officials to cancel tours and close the grounds to visitors.
A wind shift caused the fire to cross a containment line in the afternoon, leading authorities to issue evacuation orders for several communities north and west of Lake Nacimiento, about 180 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The fire has burned 31 square miles and destroyed 48 structures since it began August 13th. It’s 35% contained.
Hearst Castle closes occasionally due to bad weather. The closure allowed fire crews to set up firefighting equipment to protect the hilltop estate. The visitor center, which is downhill from the castle, remained open. Workers at the castle have spent several days cutting brush and putting in fire lines to create a defensible space around the castle. A contingency plan is in place to move the large art collection that belonged to media magnate William Randolph Hearst.
A popular tourist attraction along the Central Coast, the estate was conceived by Hearst to display his art collection. In its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, the castle was a playground for Hollywood stars. The location was the subject of satire in the movie, Citizen Kane. Though married, Hearst’s mistress was actress Marian Davies. Their love-child eventually married actor Arthur Lake, Dagwood Bumstead in the the popular Blondie series of films.
Hearst Castle is closed until further notice.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2016 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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