Perhaps Malibu’s only drawback is the precarious nature of living in such a remote community.
With protected parkland on three sides and an ocean on the fourth, Malibu is sometimes at the mercy of the elements. Too much rain and the canyons and highways can collapse. Not enough rain and a single spark can ignite an entire neighborhood.
No matter the emergency, there are some in our community who again and again answer the call to protect the residents, animals and property of Malibu—our firefighters.
The first responders from Fire Stations 70, 71, 72, 88 and 99, plus Fire Station 69 in Topanga, work tirelessly to protect Malibu from fires, floods and disasters of all kinds, but they do not stop there.
According to comments from Malibu Mayor Rick Mullen, a fire captain stationed at Fire Station 72, Malibu’s firefighters are deployed far and wide, such as helping in the devastating Wine Country fires in the fall and the many fires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties—including the Thomas Fire, the largest fire ever recorded in California history—in December.
On Tuesday morning, Malibu’s firefighters successfully suppressed a fire at Rambla Pacifico, the second such fire extinguished on Mailbu’s east side this year. In late January, a fire that started in the Civic Center was knocked down before any businesses or homes were damaged.
The word “hero” has many definitions—role model, main character, good friend—but it comes to the English language from the Greek “heros,” meaning “protector,” and that is perhaps the most apt usage for the term.
Malibu’s firefighters are heroes, selflessly risking life and limb in fire after fire, not to mention assisting in ocean and canyon rescues, countless serious car wrecks along PCH and being the first on call for every emergency.