A Southern California theme park was recently struck by a disastrous loss, with officials deeming the incident “a piece of history gone.”
The Golden State is home to some of America’s best and most popular theme parks, from Knott’s Berry Farm to Six Flags Magic Mountain, SeaWorld San Diego, California’s Great America, Universal Studios Hollywood, and, of course, Disneyland Resort — Walt Disney’s original theme park in Anaheim, California.

Related: Disneyland Scandal Continues With Bone-Chilling Update
With so many theme parks and experiences to choose from, it’s not hard to see why millions of families venture into California’s theme parks every year.
However, two theme parks have an extremely close relationship, whose creators shared a name and a vision: Walt Disney’s Disneyland Park and Walter Marvin Knott’s Knott’s Berry Farm. Despite what one might think, there was no rivalry among the two Walters, Disney and Knott. Contrarily, both visionaries inspired each other.
While Walt Disney was still laying out his plans and ideas for Disneyland Park, Walter Knott’s amusement park had already been operational for nearly 30 years, motivating Disney to discuss the structure and logistics of amusement parks, paving the way for what Disney fans know and love as Disneyland Resort.
Unfortunately, Knott’s Berry Farm was recently struck by a disastrous loss, with officials commenting that a piece of California theme park history is gone for good. Ironically, the unfortunate accident involved similar circumstances to an incident that destroyed a Disneyland Park icon earlier this year.

Related: Disneyland Officially Files Permits for Multi-Million-Dollar Expansion
Per an OC Register report, a historic Buena Park barn that served as the workshop for Southern California theme park pioneer Bud Hurlbut, who designed several early Knott’s Berry Farm attractions, has been destroyed in a two-alarm fire.
Per the report, “Orange County Fire Authority firefighters battled a Thanksgiving evening blaze that destroyed a vacant two-story barn in the 7800 block of Western Avenue just down the street from the Buena Park theme park. The cause of the fire that broke out at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 23 is under investigation, according to OCFA Captain Sean Doran.”

According to Knott’s officials, Hurlbut used the Buena Park barn while designing and creating the 1960 Calico Mine Ride, 1969 Timber Mountain Log Ride, 1969 Hat Dance tea cup ride, and 1980 Dragon Swing. “A lot of the park’s early attractions were conceived and designed over there at the barn,” said Knott’s printing department manager Allen Palovik.
Palovik, a third-generation Knott’s employee who has worked at the park for 49 years, added that Bud’s Barn was filled with concept drawings, blueprints, and scale models of attractions alongside machinery. “It’s a piece of history gone,” Palovik added, “It’s sad it went that way.”
The Orange County Fire Authority (@OCFireAuthority) shared a video of the incident as firefighters arrived at the scene, reporting that there were no injuries to firefighters or civilians.
A Real Barn Burner
Tonight crews in Buena Park arrived on-scene of a 2 story vacant barn well involved with fire. Firefighters utilized a defensive strategy to protect exposures and provide for firefighter safety.
Ultimately, the fire went 2 alarms. >>>
🔥A Real Barn Burner🔥
Tonight crews in Buena Park arrived on-scene of a 2 story vacant barn well involved with fire. Firefighters utilized a defensive strategy to protect exposures and provide for firefighter safety.
Ultimately, the fire went 2 alarms. >>> pic.twitter.com/EQXDklvtGi
— OCFA PIO (@OCFireAuthority) November 24, 2023
According to Knott’s officials, Knott’s Berry Farm had nothing stored in the barn, which belongs to the city of Buena Park.
Have you ever visited Knott’s Berry Farm in California? Tell Inside the Magic about your experience in the comments below!