Face of Malibu Rebuilds is a series from artist Johanna Spinks, featuring Malibu residents and their experiences before, during and after the Woolsey Fire. If you have a fire story you would like to share with The Malibu Times, a person of note or courage, or a person who just needs some cheer around this difficult rebuild time, to be sketched for this series, please contact Spinks at johanna@johannaspinks.com or The Malibu Times Managing Editor Emily Sawicki at emily@malibutimes.com.
Spinks, a professional portrait artist and longtime Malibu resident, is donating her time to this series for the interviews and sketches. Readers may remember her original Face of Malibu portrait series that ran monthly in The Malibu Times for five years. You can see more examples of her portrait work at johannaspinks.com.
Wise beyond his years, Jaron Denson, a father of two small boys, lost his fourth-generation family home built in the 1950s by his grandparents’ own hands. He said life is five percent circumstance and 95 percent approach. Jaron, 33, with a sharp intelligence and classic, chiseled good looks, is a co-owner/operator of one of the first legal drone companies in the U.S. This interview takes place at Malibu Methodist Church where this young Renaissance man is volunteering handiwork time at his son’s school, between helping supervising a rebuild for his wife Corinne, 33, and mom, Colleen.
What is your back story with Malibu? Tell us a little about your life and old home.
Back in 1956, my grandfather Chauncey built the house on Point Dume with his own hands. He worked during the night shift so he could make a nickel more. He built the foundation with my grandmother Nikonia. It took about three to four years, judging by the permits. My parents bought it from them in ’72. It’s where my mom grew up, and where I grew up with my brother and sister. This became the family home for four generations. I used to be an aerospace engineer for the Department of Defense, and then I decided I was done giving my energy to that. I decided in 2012 to go into the drone space and started “Drone Tech Aerial Cinematography” with my brother-in-law. It is based in Malibu and right now we film for movies, commercials and TV shows.
What was your direct experience of the Woolsey Fire?
Our house was at the end of Wandermere, one of the hardest hit streets. I had helped my brother-in-law the night before evacuate in Agoura Hills—I didn’t get much sleep that night. I have been doing this my whole life. Generally, I roll out the fire hose at the top of the street. This year, I was without fire hoses because I had given them away to my father-in-law at Decker, because he was the one that needed them most. We were watching the fire develop most of the day. We were pretty sure it was going to roll past us. The wind shifted and suddenly the fire was coming toward us. My wife evacuated with the kids (Jace, age four, and Behr, age one). I stayed behind with my brother-in-law and mother to put out spot fires. The winds had stopped and we thought: “We got it. We got this licked.” Then, the wind started blowing in our faces. The water from the hose was now going over our heads instead of toward the house because of the high winds. I looked at the driveway, which was now on fire, and the neighbors’ houses were on fire, too. A police officer came and told me to get out. I was psychologically inoculated at this point—kind of in shock. Judging by how everything was unfolding, it was too dangerous to fight it. We were ill equipped and under-manned. I knew at the point when I left my driveway, it would be the last time I would ever see my home. I tried to get back in every hour; I was afraid I would melt to death or my car would stall. At 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, I finally got back in. At that time not a lot of thoughts go through your mind other than pure shock. It is unreal. I wasn’t devastated—yet. You can’t fathom it, but I could stop obsessing about the house now. We’ve been on a couch surfing tour since—not of the good type—with our children. My mom has, too. Our family has helped us out. The community came together, people on Facebook. We did a GoFundMe and, through that, were able to get a trailer. The Boys & Girls Club gave us some money, too, which we were really grateful for.
What will your rebuild look like?
We are planning on doing an in-kind replacement. I am pulling an owner-builder permit on my mom’s behalf. A lot of people whine about city council, but I think they have done pretty good. There are still things they can improve upon, but doing a “like-for-like” replacement, I think they have done a very good job.
What has been the hardest aspect of this experience for you?
Growing up, I would see these stories of people evacuating disasters, saying, “We got our pictures and stuff.” I never understood that until, of course, it happens to me. When we set out to defend our home; failure was not an option. We didn’t pack anything. We packed our animals; my mom took her documents. When you have a family home like that, it’s full of pictures. Pictures I had of my friends, pictures of my parents back in the ’70s. We had a poolroom with our family pictures on the wall; it was something we took for granted when we walked past it every day. Now, it’s all gone. The hardest thing I lost was my father’s Harley. I had the Easy Rider gear, too, that my father had left me. That was hard, as far as losing a personal possession.
Any shining moments?
Your own personal transformation from the process. A lot of people ask me how I am doing, losing my stuff, but actually it’s not really that bad. (Laughs) That box full of old cell phones that you don’t need, that you moved from place to place, well, I had a 100 of those old boxes. It’s a clean slate. I am really proud of our community for coming together and helping the people like myself that have lost. I can’t even tell you the amount of help we have received, it’s just really overwhelming, even down to the men in my Frisbee league who gave me a nice donation. I couldn’t believe the generosity of people. The free donation centers were also amazing.
What is the biggest challenge ahead for you?
I think it’s all behind us, to be honest. The biggest challenge was loss and having to accept that. I don’t feel I am at the bottom of the mountain today. I don’t have to roll the stone uphill. You’ve just got to keep moving. I don’t know what I would do right now if I wasn’t self-employed, having to go to all these meetings. I would probably be fired.
Any suggestions or advice for others displaced by the fire?
There are people who have had it way worse than me. I feel I have been blessed with how it’s gone for my family and me. The next chapter is putting our lives back together. Life is five percent circumstance, 95 percent approach. There are people on this planet that have it way worse. Your energy flow is where your mind goes.