#woolsey fire

Lies, No Santa Ana Winds Here

Oct. 9, 2019

So far so uneventful this fall, and that’s a good thing. We don’t want a fire season like those of the recent past, such as last fall’s Woolsey Fire in Malibu. SoCal Edison says they may be shutting off the power in Frazier Park tomorrow because of weather conditions that could cause a fire to errupt, that is Santa Ana winds from the east, which were reported on Weather.com, but which do not agree with actual weather conditions in Southern California today. They even came up with a new name for the Weather Service advisory, a “Red Flag Warning.” The wind is in fact from the west and tempertures are mild. The satellite image confirms that the wind was coming from the west today, which is normal. We also have had the mildest fire season in 20 years because of the record breaking precipitation this past winter. Perhaps they’re worried about a lawsuit, because of the infamous failure last November of PG&E to shut down power in Butte County right before the Camp Fire erupted.

I think we all know that for many of us, it will come to this: neighborhood-based, civilian first responders. We are stretching the ability of our professional first responders to react to and control the effects of natural disasters or help people and animals evacuate or treat the injured. This is the story about a group of young people who lived in Malibu and formed an impromptu first responders group with the intention of putting out the fires. Residents of Malibu called the group the Point Dume Bombers; the name stuck.

In this photo, the author of the New York Times story is on the far right.

From Left: Layne Stratton, Jack Platner, Beau Biglow, Leo Harrington, Sam McGee, Alec Houge, Riley Smoller, Andrew Jacobson, Nick Nushawg, Jake Kelley, Keegan Gibbs, Ryland Lancaster and Robert Spangle. Credit...Keegan Gibbs. 

Excerpt from this story:

I evacuated to my cousin’s home in Santa Monica, about 20 miles down the coast, but I felt little relief in escape. The news made it clear that all of Malibu was burning, and to my horror, much of the firefighting resources in the state had been sent to the fire in Paradise, almost 500 miles away in Northern California, leaving Malibu virtually undefended. I had assumed my city was well protected; now I felt like I had abandoned the place and done nothing to save it. I had a strong urge to return and do anything I could to help. But I wasn’t firefighter, so was there really anything I could do? This internal debate kept me up most of the night. By morning I decided to act, if only for my own peace of mind.

When I got back to Malibu, the town was so dense with smoke that I couldn’t see down to the end of the streets I rolled past. On my street, the fire had stopped four houses from my own. My mother’s home two miles away was ash and a burning gas line. Without emergency services and with most of the residents evacuated, the fire now burned unchecked. Across the canyon, the main body of the wildfire prowled outside town; closer in, fires flared at random in the residential streets, as houses or stands of trees were ignited by burning ash carried on the wind.

To get a better sense of the destruction, I hiked to the top of Point Dume, a promontory near my house that also lent its name to the neighborhood. Soon I spotted flames nearby and drove to them, hoping to stop them before they spread. There was an older couple sleeping in their S.U.V. at the foot of the hill. They had just lost their home after a 42-hour battle to save it.

Minutes later three trucks arrived, packed with young men, their faces covered in rags and particle masks. The drivers, unmasked, had the hard, strained faces of men in combat. I was overjoyed. They arrived with shovels and buckets — the meager weapons they could scavenge to save what remained of Malibu from the flames. They were less excited to see me, standing there with one leg still covered in bandages from my accident, equipped with a vintage convertible that was not exactly the ideal vehicle for the circumstances. Despite their skepticism, they let me join them. As night fell, I followed the group down into the smoke and water of a nearby gully. We were a ragged silent patrol, in a landscape of charred sand, distant fires, smoking vehicles and black water. It felt more like a patrol in Afghanistan than my California neighborhood.

The Bombers unloading supplies brought to shore by surfboard, kayak and dinghy. Credit...Jack Platner

Orange Glow, Venice Beach

So ALL of Malibu has been evacuated due to the massive ongoing wildfires today. I just saw a report here (in L.A.) that part of Malibu High School was on fire, and RDJ’s Malibu rancho is just across the street from the high school. I am pretty sure the RDJ family is safe in NY right now, but hoping their Malibu home gets through this safely and that they have people here in Malibu who get the critters to safety if need be (horses and other large animals - I assume including alpacas and goats - are being sheltered at Zuma Beach for now).