The Brief

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, at about 7 a.m., the Getty’s Emergency Planning Specialist Les Borsay arrived at the Getty Villa in Malibu.

“This was not normally a day I would have necessarily been out there,” Borsay told LAist.

He was there with several other staffers from the Getty’s Brentwood campus to test some of the Villa’s fire suppression equipment, which was taking longer than expected.

Then came the message from the Getty in Brentwood: a small brush fire up started up at the Highlands, sparked by embers of the Palisades Fire, he said.

Les Borsay, emergency planning specialist at the Getty Trust

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The Getty Trust

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For the next 28 hours, Borsay and 16 other staffers organized themselves to supplement fire department efforts and along the way contributed to helping keep the Getty Villa and its priceless art collections from going up in flames.

The Getty Villa's emergency operations center

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The Getty Trust

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Now, nearly a month later, administrators of cultural institutions around the country are coming to Borsay to learn what he and his staff did, how they did it, and what they learned so they themselves can close any disaster safety gaps in their own plans.

Putting out spot fires with boots and fire extinguishers

After the start of the brush fire, the museum was closed down and the decision was made to tell non-emergency staff to go home. Borsay and the 16 others volunteered to stay.

From a conference room at the Villa, Borsay and others watched security camera feeds of the flames as they approached the perimeter of the 64-acre property. They kept a close eye on the northeast corner, near Los Liones Drive.

“We have a security kiosk there at our back gate. We had to pull that officer and make sure that they were safe,” he said. “That's when it starts becoming a real situation — OK, this fire is here."

Teams of two people

Borsay organized teams of at least two people, who wore N95 masks and goggles.

Spot fires from the Palisades Fire break out at the Getty Villa.

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The Getty Trust

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“Some goggles were better than others,” Borsay said, but those were all the equipment they had.

In all, 16 people, along with Borsay, were going out to extinguish spot fires around the campus.

Borsay also ran the command center.

“Fire extinguishers, we had them in the vehicles. We were pulling them out of the other buildings to put in the vehicles so that they could be used to go and hit these little fires,” Borsay said.

The teams would then return to the Emergency Operations Center to stay out of the smoke and ash and to replenish their energy.

Borsay commandeered sandwiches, cookies, and chips left in the museum's catering area for the crew.

“They could come inside for a second, get a drink of water, be inside for another 20 minutes or so and then rotate back out,” Borsay said.

They used boots and fire extinguishers to put out fires and help firefighters who arrived to fight the fire that day.

The fires were less threatening at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Borsay said, and flames subsided at about midnight. Meanwhile, the Palisades Fire continued to burn.

The next day, Getty CEO Katherine Fleming told news reporters the Villa remained safe and intact. Borsay had stayed the night, along with most others, and by noon returned home to Eagle Rock.

“It felt like the worst part was over,” Borsay said.

Key takeaways from their DIY firefighting

The Getty had done a lot to plan for a potential fire running up the canyons around the Villa.

However, the experience of Borsay and the other staffers who stayed revealed some gaps.

• The ABC fire extinguishers are dry chemical and not very effective in the strong winds that made the fires so dangerous — water fire extinguishers would have been better
• It was a good choice to get staff out of the museum early on
• Practices like shutting off outside air and taping doors to make sure smoke and ash didn't enter rooms worked
• People went above and beyond their job descriptions
• Sharing these practices with other cultural institutions is key

“ I learned that the people I work with are not just amazing, but even more amazing than I could have imagined,” Borsay said.

Other museums want to know

The Getty hosted a large cultural property protection conference last September. Some of the attendees reached out to Borsay, he said, to learn first about how he and the museum were doing. Then, for details about how he and his staff helped protect the Villa from being engulfed in flames.

The amphitheater at the Getty Villa with the glow of the Palisades Fire in the background.

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The Getty Trust

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He said he’s been asked to make a full presentation at this year’s conference. And next week he’s talking to the Cultural Safeguard Alliance, a network formed among cultural institutions to protect cultural property.

“[I’m going to give] a basic briefing on what happened and what we did and how we protected [the Villa],” Borsay said.

But this is not the happy ending. Natural disasters are never in the city’s rearview mirror.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the L.A. fires, “The Big One.” While these fires are historic in nature, the longstanding threat of a massive earthquake also looms on L.A.’s horizon.

“It's going to be a bad day when the Big One happens. I don't think anybody's questioning that,” Borsay said.

A large magnitude earthquake will cause different damage, but the experience of going through the recent fire storm, Borsay said, has helped him and his institution prepare.

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena and Pasadena’s music community have really shown up to support fire survivors, especially fellow musicians who lost instruments and record collections.

That effort continues this weekend with a special donation concert at a Pasadena record store, with the aim of getting vinyl records back in the hands of survivors who lost their collections.

“You know, our name is Healing Force of the Universe, and I think that gives me a pretty clear direction… especially after the fires,” said Austin Manuel, founder of Pasadena record store, where Sunday’s show will be held.

The record donation effort is the brainchild of musician Brandon Jay, who founded the nonprofit Altadena Musicians after losing his home and almost all of his family’s instruments in the Eaton Fire. Through Altadena Musicians’s donation and registry platform, Jay said he and his partners have helped some 1,200 fire survivors get their music instruments back.

Brandon Jay.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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Now, that effort has fanned out to restoring vinyl record collections.

“All of that stuff evaporated for thousands of people,” Jay said. “Look at your own record collection and be like, ‘Wow, what if that whole thing disappeared?’”

You might know Jay from several bands over the years, including Lutefisk, a 1990s alt-rock band based in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, composed music for TV shows, including Orange is the New Black and Weeds.

Jay plans to play some holiday tunes at Sunday's record donation show (which LAist is the media sponsor), along with fellow musician Daniel Brummel of Sanglorians. Brummel, who was also a founding member of Pasadena’s indie-rock sensation Ozma, said he was grateful to Jay for his fire recovery work and to Manuel for making Healing Force available for shows like this.

Brummel, who came close to losing his own home in the Eaton Fire, recalled a show he played at Healing Force back in March.

Ryen Slegr (left) and Daniel Brummel perform with their band, Ozma, on the 2014 Weezer Cruise.

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Even Keel Imagery

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“The trauma of the fires was still really fresh,” Brummel said. After playing a cover of Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” that night — which includes the lyrics “I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down” — Brummel said his neighbors in the audience told him the rendition hit them hard. “It felt really powerful. And without that space, it just wouldn’t have occurred.”

Details

Healing Force of the Universe Record Donation Show
Featuring: Quasar (aka Brandon Jay), Sanglorians (Daniel Brummel) and The Acrylic.
Sunday, Dec. 14; 2 to 5 p.m.
1200 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Tickets are $15 or you can donate 5 or more records at the door. More info here.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.