The priceless history inside the Reagan Library, narrowly saved from a fast-moving wildfire

A Santa Ana-wind-fueled fire that started at dawn Wednesday in California’s Simi Valley narrowly missed the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, which is filled with irreplaceable historical artifacts.

Melissa Giller, a spokeswoman for the library, told the Associated Press that aerial water drops and a firebreak protected the complex from damage from the Easy Fire. By the afternoon, aerial footage showed a blackened and burned area completely surrounding the unscathed library.

A herd of goats is brought in every year to eat the brush to create the firebreak, she said.

Earlier in the day, executive director John Heubusch told the CBS Los Angeles affiliate the fire was “encircling” the Air Force One Pavilion in the library complex, which holds a Boeing 707 aircraft used for decades as the presidential plane.

“It’s a national treasure, so hopefully the heroes out here — and the helicopters and trucks that have surrounded the library are — they’re doing a magnificent job,” Heubusch said.