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Malibu surfside news | July 11, 2019 | 9
Malibu lifeguards to be honored for aid amid Woolsey Fire
Lauren Coughlin, Editor
Lifeguards train all their
lives for worst-case scenarios;
last November, Malibu
saw one.
Eight months later, two
of Malibu’s own, Capt.
Ryan Addison and Ocean
Lifeguard Specialist Tim
Ryan, will receive the Distinguished
Service Award
for their efforts to protect
their neighbors’ homes during
the Woolsey Fire.
The Paradise Cove residents
are to be recognized
alongside fellow Los Angeles
County Fire Department
ocean lifeguards at the International
Surf Festival
Lifeguard Medal of Valor
Dinner July 31 in Redondo
Beach. Awards are given
to those who have demonstrated
“extraordinary and
exemplary bravery in the
line of duty,” according to
ISF.
Ryan was working at the
Zuma Lifeguard Headquarters
on the night the fire
began. There, he listened
to the radio and received
calls from members of
the public who were seeking
more information on
the fire. Once Ryan’s shift
ended, he headed home to
start preparing his family
for what he knew could be
a monstrous fire.
Addison said he and his
neighbors did not know
the extent of the fire by
the time it neared Paradise
Cove, but he, Ryan and
several others joined up to
defend their neighborhood.
“[We] saw it coming and
heard all the propane tanks
exploding across the highway,”
Addison recalled.
The men got to work,
turning off gas at homes,
laying hoses and plotting
a potential escape route.
Paradise Cove remained
Addison
Ryan
largely populated, and
Ryan and Addison are credited
with saving hundreds
of mobile homes, including
their own.
“We were just kind of
one foot in front of the other,”
Ryan said. “[We were]
prepping the houses, getting
all the leaves and debris
away from the houses.”
Addison and Ryan recalled
how Tim Morris
secured an old-school fire
hose, giving the unofficial
crew a leg up on fighting
the fire and enabling them
to keep it from crossing
the highway. Had the blaze
continued on its path, Addison’s
house was one of the
first ones that would have
been engulfed, he shared.
“It would have been horrendous,”
Addison said.
The evening of Nov. 9
didn’t allow much sleep for
Addison or Ryan.
“We were basically just
running around and checking
on both corners of the
Cove,” Addison said.
Late in the evening, a
couple fire engines responded,
and Ryan left
to check on his dad and
brother’s houses. Around 1
a.m., Ryan returned home,
pulled his couch in front of
his window and closed his
eyes.
It didn’t last long.
Around 4:30 a.m., he
said, he awoke to find that
nearby trees were going up
in flames. The fire engines
were gone, so Ryan got
to work on extinguishing
hotspots.
“Through their knowledge
and selfless actions,
[Ryan and Addison] managed
to save hundreds of
mobile homes that were
threatened,” the release
from ISF states. “Additionally,
they bravely watched
over the community for
more than 24 hours.”
Once the bulk of the fire
fighting was behind them,
Ryan and Addison did not
rest. They began doing
welfare checks, and needed
supplies were delivered to
the community by boat.
“I was just doing what I
would do normally,” Addison
said.
Addison and Ryan have
25 and 29 years on the
job, respectively, and have
been “on and off partners”
through the years, Ryan
said.
While they are primarily
charged with safeguarding
beachgoers, Woolsey was
not the first fire the duo has
faced. In 2013, Addison
and Ryan worked to fight
a small fire at Point Dume
Club as firefighters responded
to a nearby brush
fire. That effort also earned
the pair a Distinguished
Service Award from ISF.
Addison previously
earned a Medal of Valor for
his response to a boat accident
on Colorado River.
Ryan also received a
Medal of Valor in 1996
for saving the life of a
beachgoer who became
entrapped in a sand hole at
Zuma Beach.
Addison and Ryan both
called this year’s honor
“humbling.”
Still, Addison said, after
seeing the widespread
devastation the fire caused,
he wishes they could have
done more.
“Our heart and soul is
in the community where I
grew up and work in, and
to be recognized for something
we did is nice; its a
nice feeling,” Ryan said.
Also being honored
Five individuals are to be
honored in addition to Addison
and Ryan.
Ocean Lifeguard Specialists
Shaun Gudmundsson,
Ruben Carmona and
Jon Van Duinwyk are to
receive Medals of Valor.
Last August, Gudmundsson
and Carmona assisted
in the rescue of two fishermen
from a rocky, remote
ledge below Inspiration
Point in Rancho Palos
Verdes.
“The fishermen had become
trapped in the rising
tide and huge surf, generated
from a hurricane off
Baja California,” ISF’s
press release details. “Exposing
themselves to extreme
ocean and nighttime
conditions, the successful
efforts of Gudmundsson
and Carmona saved the
men’s lives.”
Van Duinwyk is to receive
his honor for his “extremely
hazardous” rescue
of a 70-year-old man who
was trapped in his sailboat
amid a storm, offshore
from Dockweiler Beach.
“Van Duinwyk risked
his life to enter the vessel,
extricate the elderly man
as the boat was breaking
apart in the 8-foot, shorepounding
waves,” ISF’s
release states, of the November
2018 effort. “Due
to Van Duinwyk’s actions,
the victim not only survived,
but was treated for
only minor injuries. Just
minutes after the successful
rescue, the sailboat
now on the sand was completely
destroyed by the
huge surf.”
Ryan Addison (left) and Crosby Webb defend Paradise
Cove against the Woolsey Fire. Addison is to receive an
honor for his aid to the community. photo submitted
Ocean Lifeguard Dick
Douglas, who has been on
the job for more than 50
years and remains an active
ocean lifeguard, will receive
the Lifetime Achievement
Award. Douglas is the
father of three LA County
lifeguards (Capt. Dan
Douglas and lifeguards
Craig and Todd Douglas)
and is known for upgrading
the Junior Lifeguard
Program in the 1970s and
1980s.
Ocean Lifeguard Bill
Krauss, who recently retired
after 48 years, will receive
the inaugural Junior
Lifeguard Award.
“He is most notably recognized
for his success
in teaching, encouraging,
mentoring and introducing
hundreds of junior lifeguards
and students into
the LA County Lifeguards
family,” ISF’s press release
states.
The Medal of Valor Dinner
kicks off the 57th annual
International Surf Festival,
occurring July 31-Aug.
4 in Hermosa Beach.
“It is our honor to recognize
these individuals who
demonstrated bravery and a
selfless commitment to the
safety of beachgoers of Los
Angeles County,” said Rob
McGowan, president of
the ISF, in a press release.
“They rose to the challenge,
and their heroism is
inspirational and worthy of
recognition.”