–    3.3 magnitude earthquake hits Malibu at 12:44 this morning,

–    Malibu schools cancelled.

–    Power line failure suspected for Malibu fire.

–    Edison shuts off power to an entire city because of winds … for the first time.

–    Fire above Fillmore – visible from Kanan Dume.

This is Malibu’s Only Local Daily News.

It’s the FINAL  edition … for  FRIDAY  … from Radio Malibu …. 99-point-1 … KBUU News.

Good morning …. I’m Hans Laetz reporting.

NO, NO SUCH THING AS EARTHQUAKE WEATHER

There was a 3.3 magnitude earthquake in eastern Malibu.

At 12:44 this morning.

Way too small for damage.

The epicenter … in the mountains near Las Flores canyon.

That would be 3 miles east northeast of City Hall.

And no … it was not triggered by the Santa Anas.

As far as the winds … 37 mile per hour gusts during the 7 am hour … up in the mountains.

Down at the beach … Santa Anas are blowing at around 25 miles an hour.

SANTA ANAS FIVE US A BREAK TODAY, BACK SATURDAY

Mild Santa Anas blew overnight … and the forecast is for continued Santa Ana’s the next 4 days.

The fire danger will continue … with Sunday being the day of biggest concerns.

Peak winds gusts in Malibu today … 40 miles an hour.

Tomorrow …. Saturday … peak Santa Ana’s of 25 miles an hour.

But Sunday … 45 mile an hour wind gusts are possible.

Monday and Tuesday …. the Santa Ana’s will drop … but no coastal fog or clouds are in the forecast for the next 6 days.

405 FIRE LAYS DOWN, ‘THOMAS FIRE’ MAY BURN THRU XMAS

The 405 Freeway Sepulveda Pass fire is not a factor today … although hundreds of firefighters are still mopping up there.

The Thomas Fire … north and northwest of us … is a monster.

A woman was found … burned to death … in a barn.

At 132 thousand acres …. it might burn until Christmas … or the arrival of heavy rain … should that ever happen.

Ojai officials said it was a “miracle” that fierce Santa Ana winds had subsided on Thursday as firefighters battled wildfires that have encircled the mountain.

Ranch houses north of Ojai burned.

Eastern fringes of Carpinteria are being readied for evacuation.

This morning … there is a huge bloom of fire in the Los Padres National Forest mountains north of Fillmore.

This will create a huge cloud .. visible from Kanan Dume Road and other mountaintop areas ibn Malibu.

We can expect more smoke from that.

FALLING LINES ‘SUSPECTED’ TO CAUSE MALIBU PARK FIRE THURSDAY

Yesterday’s fire in Malibu …. apparently caused by falling power lines.

Less than an acre was blackened … and several trees burned.

Resident Neal Witt … who lives near Cuthbert at Horizon … says it was just before 8 yesterday morning.

NEWSCART 77418 NEAL WITT

KBUU: So what’s your name?

WITT: Neal Witt (phonetic spelling).

KBUU: Mr Witt, what happened?

WITT: My wife woke up this morning, she smelled the fire, I went up the hill, and I smelled the fire, saw the flames coming down the hill.

KBUU: And they were coming at your house?

WITT: Yeah, right down the hill, right in back.

KBUU: What did they do to help you?

WITT: They were there, they were blessing us, that’s what they did, they blessed us.

KBUU: How so?

WITT: My house is still there

KBUU: Did they drop water on your house?

WITT: Yeah. They flew over first, as the guys were walking down the hill, with their hoses, putting the fire out with hoses.

Thank you that was shit[[[[[END QUOTE]]]]

Witt was standing on the street … handing out lemonade bottles to the inmate fore crews who had saved his house.

His shirt … speckled with the dirty water drops from the Superscooper.

Up the hill … Los Angeles county fire battalion chief Kevin Kinney was in command.

NEWSCART 77415 KINNEY AAAAA. :24 all the spots very rapidly.

A fire that was burning in light brush possibly from a power line down.

And with the strong winds it was spotting to several different receptive fuel beds.

We have augmented staffing out here in Malibu today because of the high winds.

We had people on it right away and we got lines around all the spots very rapidly.

About 50 freighters were brought in … including inmate line crews from Camp 13.

And aerial resources were quickly brought in. [[[[[END QUOTE]]]]

Kinney said that  .. despite the drain on resources from all the fires in Southern California … the county fire department had the resources in needed here ….particularly aerial resources.…

KINNEY BBBBB :10  QQQ where we needed our resources.

Yes we used our helicopters and our Superscoopers came out.

Each made several drops and they helped direct where we needed our resources. [[[[[END QUOTE]]]]

The fire commander in Malibu says the county has full staffing in Malibu.

KINNEY CCCC :   QQQQ we had enough resources available for this fire.

We have enough in we have help from our cooperators on all the fires were working together all throughout the Southland so we have enough resources available for this fire.

[[[[[END QUOTE]]]]

Kevin Kinney … battalion chief in Malibu yesterday.

——

You are listening to the latest news … from Radio Malibu … 99-point-1 … KBUU.

It’s [[[  TIME   ]]] .

SO CAL EDISON CHANGES POLICY, NOW BLACKS OUT WINDIEST LOCATIONS

At 11:47 yesterday morning … as Santa Ana winds socked the Inland Empire … Southern California Edison shut off power to the town of Idyllwild … in Riverside County.

Safety concerns … says the company.

This appears to be the first time that the Edison company has ever shut off electrical service due to Santa Anas.

Intentional blackouts during intense windstorms are an extreme and controversial fire-prevention measure.

San Diego Gas and Electric has been doing that in some remote areas of the cack country east of an Diego.

Does this set a precedent for Malibu???

That’s an open question.

Shutting off power to homes and businesses can pose its own safety risks.

Traffic lights … home health care equipment … and water pumping stations can be affected.

Edison spokesman Brian Leventhal told the San Francisco Chronicle that the company “may turn off power to certain circuits in areas where there are predicted extreme winds.”

Edison has not publicized what its exact policy is … on which areas … and what the wind threshold is.

Winds topped 80 miles an hour this week in the hills above Malibu.

And they topped 60 miles an hour on the beach.

Power lines arcing in strong winds, or collapsing when trees crash into them, have triggered many destructive California fires.

Cal Fire investigators are exploring whether pacific Gas and Electric lines sparked any of the October fires that hit the North Bay, killing 44.

California utility companies can be held financially liable for wildfire damage linked to their equipment, even if they followed all applicable safety rules.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that investors … fearing that Southern California Edison could be blamed for this week’s fires … are bailing out.

Shares of Edison’s parent company, Edison International, went down 13 percent Tuesday.

Southern California Edison on Tuesday downplayed the possibility that its equipment may have sparked the fires.

They put out a press release saying that Edison has no indication that the company’s facilities were a source of these fires.

Once again … Edison power lines are the possible source of ignition for yesterday’s fire here in Malibu.

——

The time is [[[   TIME   ]]] .

We’ll have the traffic in 65 seconds.

First …

Weather for the Malibu.

Sunny with areas of smoke … high of (((  76  ))) today on the beach and in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Winds will gust up to  (((  45 miles per hour this morning …. but diminish this afternoon. ))).

Sunset tonight is at (((  4:43. ))).

After that ….

Areas of smoke tonight … lows (((  54   ))) at the beach … down to (((  the low 40s  ))) in some wind-protected areas in canyons.

Santa Ana Wind gusts to 20 miles an hour tonight.

Tomorrow should be ((( windier late in the day … with gusts up to 50 miles an hour Saturday night into Sunday morning.  ))).

At 10 am  … at Trancas it’s (((  70 degrees … 38 percent humidity … winds out of the east at 6 miles gusting to 21. )))

Upper Malibu Canyon … (((  72 degrees … 9 percent humidity … winds out of the east at 20 miles gusting to 32. ))).

And at Civic Center Los Angeles (((  71 .  ))).

In the ocean … ((( 57  )))) in the water at Trancas Tower 14.

Lifeguard say the waves are 2 to 3 feet high.

Maybe some good stuff brewing from the west … and a little swell from the south southwest.

Fair surfing today.

High tide is at 12:21 P-M … at 5.2 feet.

Low tide is at 7:39 tonight.

——

The KBUU Newswire is posted midmornings … and the radio station is streaming … at radiomalibu.net and kbu.fm .

Also .. at the Malibu Times website.

Breaking news always goes first on the radio … at F-M 99-point-1.

Our signal comes in from County Line all the way to Big Rock … with a couple of holes at Ralphs and Latigo.