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12 | november 15, 2018 | Malibu surfside news woolsey Fire<br />
malibusurfsidenews.com<br />
fire<br />
From Page 11<br />
“With the wind blowing<br />
in a tornado, smoke in the<br />
air, soot in my eyes, embers<br />
... flying all around ...<br />
the palm trees all around<br />
started lighting on fire,<br />
which made the situation<br />
seem hopeless,” Blews<br />
wrote in an email to the<br />
Surfside News. “It went<br />
from peace to explosion in<br />
a few minutes.”<br />
For safety, the fire department<br />
asked Blews —<br />
who applied water to the<br />
condos, many cars and<br />
himself — to leave the<br />
area. When he returned 24<br />
hours later, he said, multiple<br />
units were destroyed.<br />
“It was like a war zone,”<br />
he wrote. “Everything in a<br />
monochrome black, grey<br />
and white.<br />
“But luckily, and most<br />
importantly, everyone is<br />
safe.”<br />
Blews made sure to<br />
point out a neighbor and<br />
club resident Bud Robison,<br />
who Blews said stayed<br />
“the longest fighting the<br />
flames and putting himself<br />
in extreme danger for the<br />
properties.”<br />
City of Malibu Media<br />
Information Officer Matt<br />
Myerhoff said other areas<br />
of Malibu that were<br />
significantly affected by<br />
the wildfire include Point<br />
Dume; Malibu Park, along<br />
Morning View Drive in<br />
west Malibu; and the area<br />
near Trancas Canyon,<br />
The City of Malibu issues an urgent evacuation warning<br />
just before 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9.<br />
Malibu Search and Rescue Reserve Deputy Mike Rogers<br />
works to put out a tree fire. Malibu searCh and resCue<br />
while local photos and<br />
videos confirmed damage<br />
along Kanan Dume Road<br />
and Malibu West.<br />
“I have been in Malibu<br />
all day, and I have seen the<br />
damage, and it is devastating,”<br />
Peak told residents<br />
at an informational meeting<br />
Sunday evening, Nov.<br />
11. “I think we have lost at<br />
least 170 homes. ... It is like<br />
Armageddon.”<br />
The cause of the fire is<br />
under investigation; however,<br />
state officials are<br />
looking into if power company<br />
Southern California<br />
Edison was involved.<br />
Edison sent out a “Electric<br />
Safety Incident” notice<br />
to the California Public<br />
Utilities Commission<br />
Thursday evening, Nov.<br />
8, reporting an equipment<br />
issue from 2:22 p.m. that<br />
day near E Street and Alfa<br />
Road in unincorporated<br />
Ventura County.<br />
The report also states<br />
that two minutes later, at<br />
2:24 p.m., is when “preliminary<br />
information indicates<br />
the Woolsey Fire was<br />
reported” near E Street<br />
and Alfa in unincorporated<br />
Ventura County.<br />
Neither the commission<br />
nor SoCal Edison returned<br />
requests for comment.<br />
The fast-moving fire<br />
doubled in size from about<br />
35,000 acres to 70,000<br />
acres overnight Friday.<br />
“It was a tough night,”<br />
said Osby, at a press conference<br />
Saturday, Nov. 10.<br />
“... I can tell you from our<br />
perspectives we did lose<br />
a lot of homes but, kudos<br />
to the firefighters, we<br />
also saved thousands of<br />
homes.”<br />
When the fire spread to<br />
more than 95,000 acres,<br />
Osby said it was the largest<br />
Los Angeles County fire in<br />
more than a century.<br />
The City of Malibu is<br />
operating an emergency<br />
information and resource<br />
website, www.malibucity.<br />
org/woolsey, for those affected<br />
by the Woolsey<br />
wildfire and those looking<br />
to help.<br />
The website includes<br />
the most recent confirmed<br />
news on the fire, including<br />
size and scope, and updated<br />
information about evacuation<br />
centers, animal evacuation<br />
and road closures.<br />
When Malibu evacuation<br />
began, residents used<br />
eastbound PCH and were<br />
encouraged to avoid canyon<br />
roads, which eventually<br />
were closed that day.<br />
PCH was made into four<br />
lanes midday Nov. 9, after<br />
fleeing residents caused<br />
severe delays.<br />
In its initial report, the<br />
City of Malibu reported<br />
the Woolsey Fire jumped<br />
the 101 at Liberty Canyon<br />
Road and Chesebro Road.<br />
This was a similar track<br />
as the devastating Agoura-<br />
Malibu fire of 1978, when<br />
25,000 acres were consumed<br />
and more than 200<br />
buildings were destroyed,<br />
according to Surfside News<br />
reporter Suzanne Guldimann,<br />
a Malibu resident<br />
who is authoring a book on<br />
the area’s history.<br />
In the 1993 Old Topanga<br />
Fire, 16,500 acres<br />
were covered, and the fire<br />
claimed three residents’<br />
lives and 388 structures.<br />
The Santa Monica<br />
Mountains National Recreation<br />
Center confirmed 10<br />
of its 13 tagged mountain<br />
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From a boat near central Malibu, Jake Welter captured<br />
this image of a helicopter fighting the fire around 11:30<br />
p.m. Friday, Nov. 9. Photo subMitted
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