A fire at what Smithsonian Magazine once called “Los Angeles’ strangest museum” caused smoke damage to some exhibits but resulted in no injuries before it was put out Wednesday.
The fire was reported at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday at the Museum of Jurassic Technology, which is housed in a two-story commercial building at 9341 W. Venice Boulevard, according to Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Multiple callers reported seeing flames coming from a window, Humphrey said. Crews arrived to find smoke coming from the building.
Firefighters learned the owner, who lives behind the building, heard a smoke alarm and used two fire extinguishers to keep the blaze in check. The fire was extinguished by 12:05 a.m., Humphrey said.
The fire started near a mail window by the first-floor entrance and traveled up the wall to the ceiling. Its cause remained undetermined, Humphrey said.
The fire caused smoke damage of undisclosed severity throughout the building. No dollar loss estimate was provided.
Founded in 1988 by David Wilson and his wife, Diana Drake Wilson, the quirky museum features unusual exhibits such as “Rotten Luck: The Decaying Dice of Ricky Jay” and “Tell the Bee,” which includes folk remedies such as eating dead mice on toast to cure bedwetting, according to the Smithsonian.
David Wilson, a former entertainment industry model artist, received a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, known as a “Genius Grant,” in 2001. The museum was also the subject of the 1995 book “Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder” by Lawrence Weschler.