Amid warnings about fire danger from Independence Day firework displays and bonfires, two brush fires sprang up in the Malibu area last Thursday, June 29, grinding PCH traffic to a halt and threatening structures, though in the end no damage or major injuries were reported.
Just before 3 p.m. Thursday, calls came in reporting a brush fire in Calabasas along Mulholland Highway near King Gillette Ranch (off Las Virgenes Road). That fire, nicknamed the Stokes Fire for its proximity to Stokes Canyon Road in Calabasas, eventually burned up 42 acres and caused one minor injury to a firefighter, before being fully contained on Saturday, July 1.
For a time on Thursday afternoon, the Strokes Fire was a three-alarm blaze, meaning three waves of personnel were sent to fight the fire and approximately 228 personnel were on scene at the peak of fire fighting that afternoon.
The second fire, in Topanga Canyon, was called in at 3:09 p.m. Thursday, about a half-mile north of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. As of Monday afternoon, July 3, the fire in Topanga Canyon had burned an estimated 70 acres and was about 40 percent contained.
Conditions for fighting the Topanga Fire were considered favorable Thursday afternoon, according to Los Angeles City Fire Assistant Chief Pat Butler, who spoke briefly to The Malibu Times. Butler specified wind was low, meaning wind would not be a driving factor in the spread of flames — which at that time made up an estimated 20-25 acres of burn area.
“Now what we’re looking at is a topography — and fuel-driven fire,” Butler described. “By looking at it, I’m not concerned it’s going to spread much farther.”
Butler said once the fire reached the top of the ridgeline, it would not have anywhere to go. While estimates for acreage of the Topanga Fire jumped overnight Thursday to Friday, going from an estimated 20-25 acres burned to an estimated 70 acres burned, spokespeople for the fire department clarified that was not due to a rapidly spreading fire but was an updated estimate based on GPS analysis.
A full closure of Pacific Coast Highway from Topanga Canyon Road to Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades on Thursday afternoon and into the evening had traffic at a standstill on the major road, while alternate routes on the 405 and 101 freeways were slower than ever due to the closure.
Topanga Canyon Road remained closed in both directions near the fire area as of Monday afternoon when The Malibu Times went to print.
