May 9 marks the six month anniversary of the Woolsey Fire, which blazed through parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Malibu—especially to the west—was badly damaged; hundreds were left without homes in the fire’s wake.
Julie Ellerton, The Malibu Times multimedia director, went around Malibu to ask the following question:
“Six months after the Woolsey Fire, what does life look like for you?”
Here are their responses.
Editor’s note: Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Matthias Bank (Malibu homeowner)
It’s total chaos. I have a new job [in dealing with the aftermath] but nobody pays me—an unpaid job! Getting the so-called like for like or the rebuild done. I mean, six months in, we still have no electricity. We can’t get temporary poles or temporary electricity. We can’t check the wells. Without the electricity, you can’t run the well—it’s like [the] chicken and the egg situation. Debris removal, it just finished probably last week, after close to six months it’s that kind of nightmare … We still haven’t even had a chance to go shopping; we’re still wearing the clothes donated.
Sherman Baylin (Sherman’s Place pet grooming)
My biggest concern during the Woolsey Fire was the wildlife and six months later, I’m still concerned about it. We still don’t seem to be guardians of what’s happening to the wildlife out here in Malibu and that is my biggest concern: What is happening with these animals? Tree trimming, of course, destroys the nest of the birds, the squirrels and the pollinators, and on top that, we still haven’t learned about not destroying the environment or animals because P-47, six months after the fire was, killed by rat poison … I feel as if we still haven’t learned anything about our own area and wildlife we share the area with.
Richard Kronman (Malibu homeowner)
Lived at Harvester Road in Malibu for over 40 years and the day of the fire, I basically alerted the family and said we have to get ready for potential evacuation. At one point, when I saw the flames above the horizon, I knew we had to evacuate. Our problem was we had responsibilities for other neighbors’ dogs—we had to go save [them], put them in the car, take them to the beach and unfortunately, never had a chance to get back up to the house … We found another location close to our old home, but, emotionally and mentally, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to reclaim what we once had.
Bane Saleh (Malibu renter, home and business)
I lived up by Zuma in one of the oldest structures in Malibu. It was an old converted barn and [I rented] another structure that was my healing practice. Basically, I lost all my belongings, both structures and my work equipment. I specialize in healing trauma so it was kind of challenging and at the same time I felt like it was a good approach to practice my skills on myself. … The hardest part was [for] me to lose the community. I think that loss for me, the people, the land, and the ocean… Other material stuff is replaceable but these are things you can’t really replace.
