SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- An entire life's work of art gone in a matter of minutes, after a fire destroys the studio of a local artist.
"Everything was gone in 15 minutes, in 15 minutes everything was gone," said Manuel Unzueta, a well-known artist.
Manuel stands next to the burnt remains of what used to be his art studio. A place where he stored thousands of paintings and drawings from when he was just 14-years-old.
"It is un comprehensible, it is painful. I could have died with my paintings that day," said Unzueta.
Last Friday at about 1:20am, Manuel's sister noticed smoke coming from the backyard studio.
"The fire was just going too fast, too quick," he explained.
Minutes later, 50 years of Manuel's work was destroyed, along with his lecturers from teaching at Santa Barbara City College. Manuel's pet bunnies and birds also perished in the blaze, all except for one.
"She was burning in the fire and we were able to rescue her and we call her miracle," said Manuel as he held a bunny.
It's decades of his life, that he'll never get back.
"I was going to leave that as a trust to my kids for their education because my work is known around the country...now they are going to have to enjoy it through photographs, and slides and books," said Unzueta.
Manuel says out of the thousands of pieces gone, he has only 7 original paintings left.
"I'm going to start painting again and do whatever I do to not to lose my inspiration," explained Unzueta.
The Santa Barbara City Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the fire, but have ruled out foul play.
