Californian Fires Claim collection of Elvis Presley Memorabilia

As wildfires sweep through the Californian city of Malibu, one of the homes destroyed was the historic Castle Kashan, known as the Malibu Castle. Built in the 1970s, the castle was also home to a collection of priceless Elvis Presley memorabilia, including one of Elvis' cars.

Governor Schwarzenegger tonight proclaimed a state of emergency in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura due to more than 11 major wildfires.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated, several homes are destroyed and one person is dead as fires whipped by gusts of up to 100km/h devour hundreds of acres of tree-lined hillsides and fill the area with thick smoke. The person killed and four others who suffered burns are thought to be undocumented migrants walking northward across the hilly terrain as fires fed on the driest brush in years.

So far Titanic director John Cameron and Olivia Newton-John have been evacuated from their hillside homes, while other celebrities Jennifer Aniston, Sting, Bill Murray, Nick Nolte, Mel Brooks, Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson all have homes in the threatened area.

More than 500 firefighters were battling to contain the blazes, with as many as 1000 more on the way. "The wind is clearly a tremendous challenge to the firefighters," Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, although fire officials were looking into the possibility that downed power lines played a role.

Southern California has been on 'red alert' over the weekend due to the high winds, temperatures of near 30C and persistent dry conditions.

- Click Here

The castle was on the market with an asking price of $19 million, and a deal was expected to be closed this weekend.

Owner Lilly Lawrence, daughter of an exiled Iranian oil minister and the goddaughter of Aristotle Onassis, was trapped inside her sprawling home with a house guest as the castle burned, the Los Angeles Times reports. Other Malibu landmarks lost to the raging fire is the Malibu Presbyterian Church and the Malibu Animal Hospital.

Fire destroys the historic Castle Kashan

Castle Kashan was built in the 1970s

© Copyright 2024 by www.elvis.com.au & www.elvispresley.com.au

https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/news/californian-fires-elvis-collection.shtml

No part of any article on this site may be re-printed for public display without permission.