Why does it have to be so exasperating to get very basic information about the state of the fire crisis in Malibu? As we viewed the heavy smoke adjacent to our Malibu Park home and watched on network TV the flames spewing from the fires, we kept trying to get real time info on what was actually happening and what danger were our property and us in. Beginning Monday at noon, when we received a call from our interim housesitter, who was then housesitting at Malibu Bay Club and watching the heavy smoke clouds drifting above her, alerting us to the fire, which began an hour earlier. Although it was less than a mile, but downwind, from our home to the fire scene we didn’t know what was happening. We tuned in the local Malibu TV channel, Channel 15, where we saw no mention of any fire, just current or repeats of City Counsel meetings, as well as the local access TV channel where Pepperdine. University broadcasts from. Not one iota of info, either.
So, obviously concerned, we phoned the Fire Department. Whoever answered gave us a lot of gibberish, said they really didn’t know anything, but that we should call the Sheriff’s Department. OK, we called the local number for the Sheriff’s Department located in Lost Hills, who said they weren’t at the scene, only their field officers were and didn’t know too much more. They had no idea where we lived (after we told them our address location) and didn’t know how close the fire was to us. We then called the Malibu hotline info number, which did give us info on road closures at that time. Early evening came, with only info provided by the news stations, and we tried that number again for any updated, more comprehensive info. It told us now to check its Web site and get put on their e-mail list for “updates.” It also said that plans were in the works for an AM radio station to have 24-hour emergency info “in the future.” Great help now. Today, we got more info from that Web site in the morning, but still saying that the fire was only 10 percent contained. We also tried our local newspapers’ Web sites (The Malibu Times and Surfside News) and didn’t get any more info than last week’s news from these.
Not having any more real conclusive info and knowing the helicopters wouldn’t be operating at nightfall, we were awaiting a knock on our door to tell us to evacuate.Should we start watering down the house and the grounds, beyond the normal winter sprinkler dousing?
Friends and family back east and in California, seeing the TV coverage, kiddingly chided us (since we have our property listed for sale) “So you have a ‘hot’ property-have a fire sale!-just kidding-get the hell of there fast if it comes any closer-keep me posted.”
But we can’t tell them too much more, because we don’t know any more. Now it’s 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. No more sounds of helicopters, no more smoke. The Malibu Info Web site says, “The Fire Department is reporting that the fire is now 48 percent contained.” So, to really find out what was happening, we drove down to the scene. However, as you pass the stream of parked fire trucks and tired firefighters having their well-deserved lunch and coffee on PCH, between Encinal and Decker canyons, asking them when they expect it to be fully contained, they say, “It’s been pretty much out for most of the day now.” They just won’t say so until it’s completely out.
In our so-called Information Age and our star-studded community, peopled by world-renowned communicators, why isn’t better communications demanded of our community ombudsmen? Why can’t there be an easier way of obtaining critical, local community info in this high-tech age of the Millennium? As was stated in Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium and the message,” prognosticating many years back that we’ve got the medium. Now where’s the message?
Larry & Joy Marshall