Charles Schulz's home destroyed in California wildfire

Because apparently no beacon of good can be allowed to stand in this world anymore, the Associated Press is reporting that the home of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was “burned to the ground” in the wildfires that have claimed at least 31 lives and 3,500 buildings across northern California. The cartoonist’s widow, Jean Schulz, evacuated the Santa Rosa house before the blaze hit, according to her stepson, Monte Schulz, who explained that he hadn’t visited in several years and didn’t know what exactly was lost in the fire. “It’s the house he died in,” he told the AP. “All of their memorabilia and everything is all gone.”

According to The Washington Post’s report, one of Schulz’s drawing tables was inside the home at the time, but things like original Peanuts artwork and memorabilia had previously been moved to the Charles M. Schulz Museum And Research Center, which was founded two years after the beloved cartoonist’s death in 2000. The museum is also in Santa Rosa, and although it’s currently closed indefinitely due to a “lack of power caused by the devastating fires,” Jean Schulz, who serves as president of its board of directors, told The Washington Post it is thankfully undamaged. “I am grateful that the museum in Santa Rosa exists to share the work of this wonderful man with the world,” she said.