On January 8, fires raged across Los Angeles. The damage is devastating and almost incomprehensible, and one of those fires came dangerously close to The Magic Castle.
That night, a group came together to hose the building down as the flames approached. Erika Larsen, Liberty Larsen, Scotty Southwell, Eduardo Herrera, Security Guard Andy, Juan Martinez, Crow Garrett, Mike Barry, and Griffin Barry helped drench the building in water. “I was so grateful to have a team of people there helping hose everything down. The teamwork made all the difference,” Erika told THE EYE. “Most importantly, [AMA General Manager Hervé Lévy] and the Board of Directors made the decision to shut The Castle down that night, and that turned out to be very wise.”
Luckily, firefighters stopped the blaze from reaching the building, and The Castle suffered no damage. Some in the magic community, however, weren’t as fortunate. If you want to support magicians impacted by the fires, you can make a contribution to the Dai Vernon Foundation.
Group photo by Liberty Larsen / The Magic Castle photo by Griffin Barry