Malibu-area residents come up for air, with stories of survival, after ‘the biggest and craziest fire we’ve ever had’
Residents in the path of the Woolsey and Hill fires spent Monday assessing damage, resupplying with essentials and contacting loved ones despite limited cell phone coverage from so many downed utility poles.
Flare-ups of the blazes, which tore into Malibu, were virtually all contained on Monday with scattered areas still smoldering. Ash swirled amid high winds, whipping into mini-twisters in some parts.
Expand
Along Kanan Road, Bobby Milstein, 53, with SoCal Fire Supply sat in his truck beside downed power lines making phone calls in about the only spot within miles that had cell phone service.
- Read our fire coverage here
“This is the biggest and craziest fire we’ve ever had,” Milstein said.
Milstein and his crew helped save the 250-acre Calamigos Ranch using 600,000 gallons of water and fire-suppressing gel with a system that was set up several years ago. The ranch lost only four structures and not a single tree, he said.
“It’s disheartening the phone calls I get during a fire because we cannot assist people when the fire is already here,” Milstein said.
During the fires on Friday, Milstein said county fire crews were nowhere to be seen. If it were not for the efforts of his company and the young workers, he said the ranch would have been lost.
- This map shows where the Woolsey fire was burning Monday
“The ranch is a gem and I wanted it to be here for the rest of my life,” Milstein said.
Others were not so lucky. Walking about a mile from a roadblock on Kanan Road near Highway 101 was Lexi Randazzo, 41, along with Isais Rios, 53, and Mario Serna, 36, who all work at Sip Malibu Wines and Christie’s Roadhouse BBQ.
They already knew the businesses were destroyed, but said they wanted to take photos for the owner to send to his insurance company.
“We are just trying to assess and see what’s left,” Randazzo said. “You know, this is life.”
Over in the Point Dume neighborhood on the coast, Robert Sherry, 41, stayed behind with several other residents to fight flare-ups over the weekend. Brush fires ripped through the community on Friday, destroying some homes while sparing others.
“It was so indiscriminate,” Sherry said. “If the eaves catch on fire and you aren’t here, the house will go up in flames. That’s why people don’t leave.”
Sherry and the others put out several spot fires, dousing structures every two hours throughout the night. One flare-up occurred at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, he said.
At Paradise Cove, many residents waited anxiously for boats to arrive with fuel and supplies. Randy Nauert, 73, who lost his home, said he evacuated on Friday just as flames rose over a nearby peak.
With barely enough time to load essential belongings and his dog into a truck, he rear-ended a rock wall in the rush to get out.
“By that time, the flames had jumped over me,” he said. “So I drove through the flames.”
Nearing Pacific Coast Highway, he noticed smoke coming from the hood of his truck. Embers had reached the engine and lit it on fire. Nauert disabled the truck on PCH and flagged someone down for help.
All throughout the destruction zone of the Woolsey Fire on Monday, neighbors were helping neighbors. Many residents were running out of fuel to power their cars and generators. Those who stayed behind needed drinking water and food.
Naomi Louise-Warne, who lost her home in Ramirez Canyon, said she could feel the love and compassion all around her. She sat on the Paradise Cove pier calling loved ones and crying.
“The random acts of kindness from strangers has been a true blessing,” she said. I’m being supported by love and support from all around the world.”
Louise-Warne stayed behind with neighbors to defend their properties. At one point she said fire officials came by and told her that she couldn’t be there and then left.
“I’m not blaming anyone but they were in the canyon and they left when the fire was coming,” she said. “For them to wave at me as they were leaving, it’s just not right.”
In Zuma Beach, Richard Chesterfield, 78, stayed behind to defend a group of four homes with a high-pressure fire hose. He packed several pieces of artwork and enough clothes to make it through the week.
At Camp Hess Kramer, a Jewish youth camp north of Leo Carillo campground, firefighters arrived in the afternoon to douse with water a few remaining embers. Several structures while others remained.
“Stuff like this it creeps and creeps and then flares up and starts another fire,” said Dustin Robertson, L.A. County Battalion Chief, about the smoldering spots.
Robertson said it was a misperception that firefighters were not around during the most intense moments.
“It might seem like that because it’s such a huge area but there were probably hundreds and hundreds of firefighters there in the first hour,” Robertson said.