Late pop king, Michael Jackson‘s famous Neverland estate is in danger of destruction due to a fast-moving wildfire in Southern California. According to TMZ, the Santa Barbara County estate is dangerously close to a blaze called Lake Fire, which has burned more than 18,000 acres since it began on July 5 and is less than ten percent contained. The blaze is burning in rural areas around the Los Padres National Forest, but a significant drive to the south or west could force flames into more populated communities.
“As we’re looking at the fire, we’re trying to go direct and directly on the fire line. If we can’t do it because of the steep, rugged terrain, we’ll go indirect. But we’re also looking way ahead of the fire as well,” Anthony Stornetta, incident commander with Santa Barbara County Fire, stated.
A record-breaking heat wave across the West, coupled with increasingly dry conditions, has fueled the growth of several major fires.
“A heat wave this intense, this long, has not been experienced in this region in 20 years,” National Weather Service meteorologists said.
During a weekend update, first responders did not say how close flames were to structures, but photos showed smoke was visible from the entrance of the Sycamore Valley Ranch, Jackson’s former property. The singer bought the 2,600-acre property in 1987 and renamed the estate “Neverland Ranch” after the fictional “Neverland” in the Peter Pan fairy tale. According to CAL FIRE, there have been 54 arson-related arrests so far this year.
