The businesses damaged in last month’s Canyon Fire are quickly picking up the pieces. Despite several obstacles, they have been able to reopen, even while some undergo repairs.
Perhaps the most tenacious of the local shops is Malibu Glass & Mirror, a 27-year-old business on Winter Canyon Road that saw its office and showroom leveled by the fires.
“We lost eight trucks and most of our inventory,” manager Adeline Freedman said. “But our contractors and vendors have been great and we are already taking orders again. Malibu saw a lot of damage from the fires, so we are ready to take on the glass needs of our community again.”
Malibu Glass is temporarily operating from a location near its old Pacific Coast Highway address in the vicinity of Kanan Dume Road until the store site is cleaned up. “We’ll be working out of trailers until our store is rebuilt,” Freedman said. “We were working 18-hour days there for a couple of weeks but we couldn’t ask for better support from the community. The Presbyterian Church even brought us a gift basket.”
All the other businesses damaged in the fire are located at Malibu Colony Plaza. The mall’s largest shops, CVS and Ralphs, both suffered some damage. Reconstruction has begun in front of CVS, forcing the closure of a portion of the parking lot. But both Ralphs and CVS are open.
Malibu Business and Shipping Center was another victim of the fires that flamed up from palm trees, igniting the roof and severely damaging the plaza’s clock tower.
“We had a lot of water damage to inventory and our carpeting,” owner Howard Spanier said. “Fortunately, we only lost two machines and a little inventory. Because of the water, we just tested for mold. But we don’t know the full extent yet of what we’ll need to do. We’re open right now. But at some point, we might have to close again for awhile.”
Acencion Prez, the manager of nearby Starbucks, said the coffee shop suffered more from water damage than anything else. “We’ve tested and retested our machines and they are all OK,” she said. “And we’re set up outside, so our everyday customers know we’re here. But we really need customers, so as soon as the Health Department gives us the OK, don’t forget your lattes”
First Bank head Houri Kharazi credited the firefighters with limiting the damage to her business. “We are right under the clock tower that collapsed,” she said. “They red-tagged us and there was severe water damage. But we already have a temporary teller line open while they are dry-walling.”
Kharazi said that the Colony Plaza property management was working closely with the city of Malibu and that all rebuilding permits were issued immediately. Best of all, she said, was that none of the safety deposit boxes were damaged and “we didn’t lose any cash.”
John Selman, proprietor of the recently opened Barrel Malibu, a “bar and playground for wine lovers” that pairs sampling plates of gourmet dishes with a wide selection of premium vintages, said the fires might have even helped his business a little.
“We opened our doors October 12, closed for the fires and reopened the Friday afterward,” he said. “Our customers seemed a little anxious to relax with some fine wine and wanted to celebrate the fact that the fires weren’t worse”
Laura Doughty of Tola Life Spa flew her parents out from Kentucky to help with the clean-up there. “We were red-tagged for four days and we worked all that time to clean up from the soot and water damage,” she said. “Because of all the scaffolding and stuff out front, people assume that we’re still closed, but customers are slowly coming back.”
Doughty said she was educating her clientele on the importance of detoxing from the effects of the fire. “People might not be fully aware of the stress this event has placed on them. The air was bad. We have great steam showers to help rebalance skin and nerves.”
Diana Nielsen has run Malibu Yogurt and Ice Cream for 21 years. “I’ve lived through a lot of stuff here,” she said. “Luckily, there was no damage to the store, but we were closed for a few days because it was so windy and messy.”
Like others, Nielsen voiced profound gratitude to the local firefighters. “Our guys are so incredible,” she said. “The local station even called to let us know when we could go back into the shop. We’re offering all the fire fighters free ice cream for a month.”
Malibu Chamber of Commerce CEO Rebekah Evans is using the fires’ devastation to promote a fire-resistant, environmentally sustainable building material called SCIP (Structural Concrete Insulation Panels).
“We need to look at new building options to limit damage in future fires,” Evans said. “This material is green, clean and local manufacturers are offering it at cost to people who lost property in the fires.”
Annie Reynaud of Global Panel Solutions is one of a couple of local contractors offering SCIP panels, with Studio RMA in Topanga being the other.
“We’ve already told Pastor Hughes at the Presbyterian Church we can provide panels for rebuilding the church,” she said. “It just makes sense to use proper, fire-resistant materials if you have to rebuild.”