[Update: 4:15 p.m. Friday] LA County Fire Department public information officers revised the estimated acreage of the Topanga Canyon Fire up to 70 acres burned with 40 percent containment as of Friday afternoon. Estimates for acreage burned were based off GPS-analyzed estimates gathered earlier Friday.
[Update: 2:40 p.m. Friday] Combined efforts from multiple emergency response units including Los Angles County Fire, Los Angeles City Fire, Malibu Search and Rescue, Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, California Highway Patrol West Valley and more continued into Friday afternoon, just short of 24 hours after initial calls came in for two fires in the Malibu area.
The Stokes Fire, burning along Mulholland Highway just below Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas, had burned an estimated 30-50 acres as of Friday afternoon and was at 30 percent containment, meaning a fireline or trench has been created around 30 percent of the burn area.
The Topanga Fire, burning about a half mile north of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, was at an estimated 20-25 acres and 20 percent containment.
Both Topanga Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway were closed throughout Friday as work continued to fight the two fires.
[Update: 7:25 a.m.] Road closures were still in effect due to firefighting efforts in Calabasas and Topanga — Topanga Canyon Boulevard was closed between Grandview and PCH for the Friday morning commute and Mulholland Highway was closed from Las Virgenes Road to the 24006 block (just past King Gillette Ranch), according to information provided by the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.
LA County Fire officials could not provide updates of overnight efforts — the latest information on the Topanga Fire was it was at 10 acres and 10 percent containment, as of about 7 p.m. Thursday, and the Stokes Fire off Mulholland in Calabasas was burning 40-50 acres at 30 percent containment as of about 7:20 p.m. Thursday.
[Update: 8:08 p.m.] PCH open in both directions.
Calabasas Stokes Fire at 80 percent containment, Topanga Fire at 10 percent contentment.
[Update: 5:43 p.m.] The Stokes Fire in Calabasas was 30 percent contained as of 5:21 p.m. Thursday, approximately two-and-a-half hours after initial calls went out on the brush fire off Mulholland Highway. The fire was downgraded to a two-alarm blaze following the call of “no forward progress” and no evacuations were called.
The Topanga Fire was in unified command with the LA City Fire Department and was also a two-alarm fire. No injuries were reported and no structures were reported threatened.
[Update: 5:18 p.m.] One firefighter suffered minor, heat-related injuries and was transported to a medical facility from the site of the Stokes Fire in Calabasas on Thursday, June 29, LA County Fire personnel confirmed.
No injuries were reported at the site of the Topanga Fire, which was holding at 20-25 acres as of 5:18 p.m. Thursday. At that time, no structures were reported threatened in either of the blazes.
[Update: 4:51 p.m.] Pacific Coast Highway was closed in both directions just east of Malibu due to the Topanga Fire. Both eastbound lanes were closed at Topanga Canyon Boulevard with no detour and westbound lanes were closed at Sunset with no known detour, as of 4:50 p.m. Thursday.
[Update: 4:37 p.m.] Conditions were reported favorable to fight the Topanga Canyon Fire as of 4:35 p.m., according to Los Angeles City Fire Assistant Chief Pat Butler. Butler offered a lower, four-to-five acre estimate for area burned — LA County Fire estimated 20-25 acres burned.
“The weather conditions are favorable for us right now — it’s not low humidity, but we do have a low report of wind,” Butler told The Malibu Times Thursday. “Now what we’re looking at is a topography- and fuel-driven fire. By looking at it, I’m not concerned it’s going to spread much farther.”
According to Butler, once the fire reaches the top of the ridgeline, it will likely have no where else to go — though possible spot fires may be a concern.
“At this point we’ve got no evacuations,” Butler confirmed.
[Update: 4:17 p.m.] LA County Fire announced on social media at 4:17 p.m. Thursday forward progress on the Stokes Fire in Calabasas was halted with approximately 30-50 acres burned in that fire.
[Update: 4:12 p.m.] The fire at Topanga Canyon just above PCH was reported at 20-25 acres as of 4:12 p.m. Thursday. No injuries reported, no structures damaged in either blaze.
[Update: 3:58 p.m.] The three-alarm Stokes Fire in Calabasas grew to 10-15 acres as of 3:58 p.m. Thursday, though no structures were reported threatened by fire department public information officers. Approximately 228 personnel were on scene.
The Topanga Fire grew to six acres as of 3:58 p.m., burning in medium to heavy brush. No structures had been damaged in that fire, though structures were reported threatened. Topanga remained closed.
[Update: 3:54 p.m.] As of 3:50 p.m. Thursday, both fires were burning away from Malibu city limits, according to City of Malibu Public Safety Manager Susan Dueñas, though conditions with brush fires are never stable, she warned.
“[Both fires are] burning away from Malibu, so we’re monitoring them, we know that winds can be sneaky, so we always keep an eye on things even when at the moment it looks like it’s ok for Malibu, we’re keeping an eye on it,” Dueñas said.
[Update: 3:38 p.m.] LA County Fire reported the blaze in Calabasas (officially located near Stokes Canyon Road and Mulholland) was upgraded to a three-alarm fire, meaning another wave of personnel is headed to the area.
The fire on Topanga, about a half-mile north of Pacific Coast Highway, has Topanga Canyon Boulevard closed in both directions, according to reports provided by the City of Malibu.
[Update: 3:33 p.m.] LA County Fire personnel confirmed air units were requested to battle the blaze at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and PCH, where structures remained threatened as of 3:33 p.m. Thursday.
Two brush fires were burning simultaneously in Malibu Thursday afternoon, one at four acres near the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Malibu Canyon Road in Calabasas and one at two acres near the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway. Structures were threatened in the Topanga fire.
The Calabasas blaze was called in at 2:54 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, and as of 3:15 p.m. Thursday approximately 195 personnel were on scene. No structures were reported threatened in that fire.
The second blaze, in Malibu at the intersection of South Topanga Canyon Boulevard and PCH, was called in at 3:09 p.m. That fire was burning in medium to heavy brush going uphill with structures threatened.
