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MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS | November 23, 2018 | 3
The heroes who saved the neighborhood
Malibu West fire
brigade, residents
defend homes
LAUREN COUGHLIN, Editor
They stayed behind —
and, because they did,
many Malibu West residents
can return home.
The community has not
been spared, though, with
an estimated 21 homes lost
out of 237 homes, despite
valiant efforts from the
Malibu West volunteer fire
brigade and other residents.
The brigade was formed
in 2012 with the thought
that if and when a big fire
came, resources would be
spread too thin. That year,
the crew gained 10 members:
Chris Spiros, Mark
Wetton, John Hathorn,
Dom Fote, Carey Hayes,
Mike Downing, Armando
Petretti, Merlin Clarke, Tim
Bice and Dermot Stoker.
The men had the gear and
had gone through the motions,
training under retired
Santa Monica Battalion
Chief Walt Shirk.
When the fire roared into
Malibu on Nov. 9, several
residents — including
newly elected councilmember
Mikke Pierson
and his 23-year-old son,
Emmet, Christine and David
Hays, Laurie, Monty
and Tim Biglow, Erik Rondell,
and Greg Corinth —
stayed back, too. Christine
Hays, event manager at the
Malibu West Beach Club,
opened the facility to community
members, offering a
safe shelter with amenities
and supplies.
Together, they fought a
fire for which they never
could have been prepared.
“When you have it advancing
on you, even
though you’ve got a fire
hose in your hand ... the
roar, the sound — there’s
nothing like it,” Stoker
said. “You can’t produce
it any other way than witnessing
that firsthand.”
Pierson said the fire leapt
by 500 yards at a time once
it exploded over the ridge,
and they knew they had to
save the top two homes in
the neighborhood to slow
the fire’s path. So they did.
“We didn’t know who
else was doing what,”
Pierson said. “We just had
our escape plan and saved
houses we could and lost
the ones we couldn’t.”
Fote was on his roof,
hosing down his property,
when he caught sight of
three separate lines of fire
heading his way, including
what he described as a
“hurricane of fire, coming
like a tornado” from the direction
of Malibu Park.
“Pieces of houses [are]
flying through it and out
of it on fire,” Fote said. “
... The only thing I’ve ever
seen like that has been on
some Weather Channel
special.”
Corinth, who also spent
time on his roof with garden
hoses, called the fire response
in Malibu West “horrible”
and said he interacted
with firefighters in two idle
engines, one on Paseo Canyon
Drive and one on Trancas
Canyon Road.
“They literally ignored
me then told me to move
on,” Corinth wrote in an
email to the Surfside. “The
one on Trancas said they
have it under control, then
turned around in no rush
and headed down PCH.”
Corinth, whose dog was
in his car, left the area when
things got bad.
“When day turned to
night on Paseo, the smoke
was so thick I started
coughing and my eyes were
Malibu resident Wendy
Sweetmore organizes
supplies for those who
chose not to evacuate
and instead stayed in
Malibu West to fight fires.
Residents had access to
the Malibu West Beach
club, where supplies were
stashed. SUZY DEMETER/22ND
CENTURY MEDIA
nonstop tearing,” Corinth
wrote. “I had to get my dog
out of there. I regret not
staying longer.”
Pierson said the fire department
was not in Malibu
West for the first four hours
of activity, but added that
he has long held the belief
that residents cannot expect
their homes to be saved.
“If you live in Malibu in
a high fire zone, which is
pretty much all of Malibu,
and you expect other people
to come and save your
house, then you need to
reevaluate that position,”
Pierson said.
And while Pierson credits
those who stayed behind
with saving roughly
200 homes in Malibu
West, he also admits that
the City will have to discuss
those who, like him,
ignored evacuation orders
and stayed behind, but who
Malibu Coast Animal Hospital
23431 Pacific Coast Highway
tel:310-317-4560
www.malibuvets.com
saved hundreds of homes
by doing so.
“I’m super glad that the
vast majority of people
evacuated; I think everyone
should evacuate, despite
us staying,” Pierson said.
“You really gotta have a
very solid understanding
of what you’re doing and
what your plan is ... or else
people die, and there’s no
Please see HEROES, 7
Our deepest debt of
gratitude to the heroes who
successfully evacuated our
Malibu community,
and all our 4-legged friends.
We are forever in your debt.