A somber hush fell over the crowd at a community recovery resource meeting at Duke’s Restaurant when lifetime Malibu resident Kirby Kotler asked how many in attendance lost their homes in the Woolsey Fire. At least 20 hands went up. The roughly 150 who came Sunday for information and support heard from a panel of locals, most of whom stayed and fought the fire, who offered advice and possible solutions moving forward as all agreed there will surely be more disasters in Malibu’s future.
Kotler received applause when he thanked newly elected Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva for “taking a stand for our community.” Villanueva, fresh from his come-from-behind victory in the November election, came to offer support to the community and said an after-action report is currently being written, warning there will be consequences for those in the department who “didn’t do their jobs,” adding “they won’t keep them.”
“The situation wasn’t acceptable,” Villanueva said of the fire. “Bad things happen; however, we learn from what happened. We dissect it, figure out where we went wrong and we’re going to put it back together and make it right this point forward.” Villanueva said his heart went out to those who lost homes. He has already publicly stated he’ll be “cleaning house” at the sheriff’s department, including emergency operations.
Kotler, who stayed and whom many have called a hero for his days-long effort “on the front line” to save his home and some of his neighbors,’ said, “We are all suffering,” but encouraged homeowners to be tough with agencies throughout the rebuild process. “They will steam roll you if you don’t stand up for your rights.”
Pointing to mistakes on many fronts by the agencies involved handling the Woolsey Fire, Kotler commented, “What happened here is a serious breakdown.
“We’re broken. It did not work almost on any level. The city needs to acknowledge it was a screw-up. It failed,” Kotler continued. “We need to learn from it because if we don’t, it’s going to repeat itself. Fires aren’t going to get smaller or more controlled. You’re going to have to take action. If you don’t think you should be here during a fire, get out.”
The 26-year Arson Watch veteran said not evacuating could make it more difficult for first responders, but added if you’re going to stay, “grab a shovel, join Arson Watch, join CERT. This is our community. Jump in. No one’s going to jump in for you. If we’re lucky, we’ll get an air drop, but you can’t count on it anymore.”
The contradictions of whether to evacuate or stay and fight a fire were addressed by Malibu resident Paul Taublieb, who stayed and saved his Point Dume home. Most of his neighbors stayed as well, thinking, “Point Dume never burns.”
“Next time, we know a lot more people are going to stay,” Taublieb said. “The words ‘mandatory evacuation’ have no legal meaning. You do not have to leave. It’s an encouragement. You cannot be arrested if you stay at your home. But if you do stay, not only are you risking your life, but there’s a fireman who may come to rescue you and he might lose his life saving you and you may lose your life.”
Although Taublieb was successful battling the fire at his home, he told the crowd he spoke with a fire chief during Woolsey who told him, “If you want to be safe, leave.” Taublieb acknowledged, “We didn’t know what we were doing. We’re not firemen,” confessing he wore a painter’s mask, later realizing he didn’t have a clue it didn’t offer much protection.
While gathering facts for his own investigation, Taublieb said whatever mistakes were made, he did not think were made with malfeasance.
“It was out of chaos, but doesn’t justify anything,” he said.
The longtime resident called out City Manager Reva Feldman for not returning half-a-dozen messages he had left for her. He’s also questioning the allocation of resources diverted to Pepperdine University, which instituted a shelter-in-place policy during the fire.
Although he had trouble speaking due to health issues, Robert Kennedy Jr. addressed the meeting in terms of health and smoke inhalation. Citing micro particulates as a major source of concern to Woolsey victims, Kennedy pointed out the blaze ignited near the Rocketdyne property in Simi Valley, probably by a guide wire that hit a jump wire in high wind. Rocketdyne was the site of a nuclear meltdown in 1959—kept secret for 20 years—which Kennedy said still poses a threat from catastrophic amounts of radioactive material that leaked decades ago being stirred up by the blaze.
