Update, 7:45 p.m. Sunday: Charmlee Wilderness Park and Trancas Canyon Park will be closed due to the Red Flag conditions on Monday, Oct. 26 and Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to an announcement from the City of Malibu made Sunday evening, Oct. 25.
Charmlee Wilderness Park reopened for visitors last Monday, Oct. 19, nearly two years after sustaining heavy damage during the Woolsey Fire.
“The LA County Fire Department reported that it has augmented staffing, ready for deployment and on-duty resources have been pre-identified for strike team mobility based upon the need,” the city wrote in an alert Sunday.
According to the city, there was predicted to be a “Particularly dangerous situation from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday for LA County mountains due to combination of damaging wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph, single digit humidities, live fuel moisture levels around 60 percent, and 10 -hour dead fuel moistures below 7 percent.”
Malibu residents should prepare for high winds and dry weather from Sunday, Oct. 25 through Tuesday, Oct. 27, which will increase fire danger in the Santa Monica Mountains area, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
From around midnight Sunday night through Tuesday, the NWS has issued a Red Flag Warning for areas of Ventura and Los Angeles counties including the Malibu area.
Winds were expected to gust from 60 to 80 miles per hour in the mountains, while wind gusts along the coast could reach 35–50 miles per hour, the weather service reported. Residents were told to prepare for the possibility of “downed trees and branches, possible power outages, hazardous driving and boating conditions, damage to portable shelters and coverings,” and other issues associated with the high winds.
As of 5 a.m. Sunday, no areas of Malibu were under consideration for Public Safety Power Shut-Offs (PSPS), Southern California Edison intentional blackouts. More information on PSPS consideration is available by clicking here.
According to the NWS, Sunday night into Monday morning, Oct. 25–26, held the “Potential for strongest Santa Ana wind event we have seen so far this season,” with low humidity, dry fuel and the potential for long range spotting and rapid fire growth in the event of a wildfire.
The NWS asked area residents to prepare in the event of a fire and subsequent evacuation. Those preparing in the event of an evacuation should review fire evacuation information from the LA County Fire Department and, in case of evacuation, remember the six Ps:
- People and pets
- Papers, phone numbers and important documents
- Prescriptions, vitamins and eyeglasses
- Pictures and irreplaceable memorabilia
- Personal computer hard drive and disks
- “Plastic” (credit cards, ATM cards) and cash
