Except for a three-car accident on Sunday that backed up traffic for hours, all in all, Malibu passed the Independence Day weekend unscathed.
By Laura Tate/Editor
More than a half million people visited Malibu beaches over the Fourth of July weekend, and, miraculously, lifeguard officials reported no deaths, and only one injury.
“It was a full house all three days,” said Lifeguard Captain Nick Steers, who works out the Zuma Beach lifeguard station.
Lifeguard manpower and towers were doubled to accommodate the increased numbers of visitors from Surfrider Beach to Nicholas Canyon, and a person watercraft was on alert over the weekend.
On the Friday, the 4th, 202,000 people came to Malibu beaches, 115 rescues took place, and more than 5,000 preventions (where a person is redirected verbally out of riptides or other danger areas) were performed. Saturday brought in 189,000 visitors, 265 rescues and 7,000 preventions. Visitor numbers went down a little on Sunday at 155,000 but rescues stayed high at 182 and there were 5,170 preventions.
The only injury lifeguards had to deal with was on Sunday when a 50-year-old man wiped out while boogie boarding and reported tingling in his fingers. He was stabilized on a backboard and airlifted (traffic was backed up for hours on Pacific Coast Highway because of three-car, six-person accident near Big Rock) to a local hospital.
Jellyfish were also minimal this weekend, with only several people suffering swelling. Steers said they were treated with diluted vinegar and sent on their way.
The biggest problem seemed to be lost children, or “lost parents,” Steers said. Twenty children went looking for their parents over the weekend.
The “hard thing with kids at the beach,” Steers said, “is they’re at knee level. All they see is knees and they start wandering.”
One 5-year-old boy started off at Tower 7 on Zuma Beach and was found at Point Dume.
“The parents were hysterical,” Steers said. “[But] we found him and had a nice reunion.”
The local fire station, 70, reported no major disturbances over the holiday weekend, except for one man who threw fireworks into the brush near Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The fire was put out and the man arrested. No further information was available at press time.
As for legal fireworks, two barges were rented and floated offshore Malibu, one reportedly by rap star Dr. Dre and the other by residents of Malibu Colony. Those finding space on the sand at Surfrider Beach were treated to a wonderful display that showered colorful sparks over the ocean water.
All in all, “everybody behaved themselves,” Steers said.