It has certainly been a busy week for the sheriff’s and fire departments in Malibu.
Two major traffic collisions—one that resulted in a fatality—closed lanes in both directions for hours last Wednesday and again on Sunday. A downed power line started a small brush fire and spelled power outages for central Malibu on Tuesday.
The incidents created major delays for drivers on Pacific Coast Highway, as well as traffic in the canyon roads.
Wednesday, Feb. 7
“Four to five cars” were involved in a traffic collision near 20102 Pacific Coast Highway, west of Big Rock, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, according to a spokesperson for the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station. Nine people sustained various injuries in the collision, which was reported at 1:22 p.m.
Inspector Randall Wright of the LA County Fire Department confirmed that two people were trapped by the accident and cut out of the vehicle using “jaws of life” type tools. The two were airlifted to local medical facilities in two separate helicopters.
Three other people were deemed “delayed status” at the time and were transported for treatment. Another four people were treated on scene for minor injuries.
The collision, which originally closed westbound lanes at Big Rock, forced an all-lane closure at the 20100 block of PCH, causing extreme delays.
Nearly seven hours later, the lanes were reopened at 7:25 p.m.
The cause of the collision has not yet been released pending traffic investigation.
Sunday, Feb. 11
A pedestrian was struck and killed in a collision with a vehicle near Malibu Pier on Sunday evening, Feb. 11. An alert went out regarding the incident at 7:49 p.m., with first responders at the scene of the crash soon after.
Initially, traffic was down to one lane in each direction on PCH, but all lanes were closed once the fatality was confirmed.
Another alert from the City of Malibu stated that the lanes were reopened the same day at 10:14 p.m.
The victim was identified as Brian Miller by Council Member Skylar Peak during Monday’s City Council meeting. Coroner’s officials were not able to confirm the identification by the time The Malibu Times went to print Tuesday.
Tuesday, Feb. 13
A brush fire broke out in the 2900 block of Rambla Pacifico, near Hume Road, early Tuesday morning, Feb. 13. A City of Malibu alert stated that a downed power line caused the fire and a power outage.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said “our units did respond;” the call came in at 7:47 a.m. and personnel were on scene at 7:58 a.m.
The fire reportedly lasted all of three minutes.
Fire knockdown was called at 8:01 a.m. Sgt. Johnson of the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station confirmed that the fire was extinguished as of 8:25 a.m.
The fire’s effects were felt as traffic signals malfunctioned from Las Flores to Malibu Canyon roads. Sheriff’s department deputies were on scene to assist with traffic control on Pacific Coast Highway.
A spokesperson for Southern California Edison said that the power outage began at 7:46 a.m., the same time the fire was first called in.
“There were 1,310 customers affected,” she said, adding that as of 9:50 a.m., 1,269 people were still affected with no estimated restoration time.
The region affected spanned Blair Bluff Drive (north), Pacific Coast Highway (south), Cross Creek Road (west) and Eagle Pass Drive (east). Crews were dispatched to analyze and restore power for customers.
As of 10:43 a.m. Tuesday, City of Malibu reported that SCE had restored power to residents.
Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station traffic investigators were not available for comment by the time The Malibu Times went to print.