The Bachelor mansion's owner, Marshall Haraden, has provided worried fans with an update on the famous property's condition following reports it had caught flames during the deadly Woolsey Fires.
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Marshall and his family live in the beautiful Agoura Hills estate in California during the 10 months of the year The Bachelor franchise is not filming there, according to Us Weekly, and he has revealed what damage has been caused by the still-raging wildfire.
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"The main house is there. Everything's fine and the accessory building up front that they use for the shows as a basecamp, it was destroyed. It's gone, but it's not something that's do-or-die for the show that [production] relies on," Marshall told Us.
Marshall had to rely on reports of the property's condition until Monday, when he was finally able to gain entry into the mansion himself. Up until that point, Marshall could not access the estate due to road restrictions put in place by authorities.
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"There's a lot of times that [production has] used [the accessory building] for something else and they didn't use it for basecamp, so it's a versatile area for them. They can makeshift," Marshall explained.
"With the building gone, they can put some modular trailers there for the duration of the show and it'll be just fine. But we've already talked and it's not going to interrupt the show. The damage up around the house is minimal, which we'll get back to shape real quick with our crew."
Marshall added, "Whatever's missing on my property, I'm a contractor. I build restaurants and breweries and whatever. So whatever needs to be built, it can be replaced."
Thankfully, The Bachelor star Colton Underwood and his bachelorettes were already done filming at the mansion and traveling abroad when the wildfire reached the area on Friday, November 9.
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While The Bachelor mansion is still standing, Marshall admitted it's currently not a suitable place to reside.
"There's no water, there's no electricity, there's no gas out there," the contractor and former San Diego fireman told Us.
"I'll go in there and rough it, but I'm not going to ask my wife to go in there and rough it with no electricity or water. There's no point going back if you can't take a warm shower and all that."
Marshall, however, has reportedly taken necessary safety precautions in the meantime to ensure the house is protected while vacant.
"There were concerns about people going in and trying to rob houses and stuff like that," he said. "So I've got on-guard security, security out there at night and the L.A. Sheriffs are there. They're on it day and night."
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But such safety measures are not out of the norm for Marshall and his family, as he revealed, "The challenge is during the year, you know? While we're living there, a lot of people try to climb it and it gets really awkward sometimes, so you've got to protect it."
"People think that, because it's a TV show that's on TV, all these people are at the house. They're not," Marshall continued. "They filmed and moved on to wherever they go, so that's usually when it's cursed the most."
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Malibu Hills resident Ava Friedman, a 16-year-old high school student who lives next to the famed ABC property, has been credited with saving the mansion, according to the magazine.
Although it was a dangerous trek, Ava and her father reportedly headed down Kanan Road in Agoura Hills to check on the well-being of their own home on Friday during the Woolsey Fire.
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"Everything was smoky. We went to visit our house to see if it was still standing and to see if we could save anything. There was fire everywhere, so we really had no idea if our house was still standing," Ava told Us.
"We got to our house and we were like, 'Thank God it's still standing.' We were just very thankful, but we saw next door, at The Bachelor house, there was a fire."
Ava and her father then took action to save the iconic Bachelor mansion.
"There was no one on Kanan Road. It was like a ghost town because everyone had evacuated, so the only cars driving along Kanan were firefighters or police cars, basically," Ava recalled.
"So we... tried to flag down a police officer or a firefighter to see if they could put out the fire, because that was a big source of danger. That could have easily gone onto our property and more of The Bachelor property. So we literally flagged them down and said, 'Okay, our house is down there and the house next door is on fire. Can you please do what you can?'"
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Ava continued, "These firefighters went down to the house and we showed them where the fire had started at The Bachelor house and they put it out. One structure was already burned when [we saw that] the fire started, but the fire could have spread more and actually destroyed more of that property. So yeah, we're really glad that we found a brave firefighter to put it out."
Many celebrities in Southern California have reportedly been affected by the raging fires across cities such as Malibu, Oak Park, Calabasas and West Hills -- including Miley Cyrus, Gerard Butler and Camille Grammer, who have all lost homes to the flames.
The Bachelor's upcoming 23rd season starring Colton is set to premiere on Monday, January 7 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski