In the letter from Susan M. Tellem (“No Land Trade,” Jan. 10) many fires from 1930 to 2003 are listed that impacted Malibu. Not listed is the 15,300- acre Woodland Hills Fire No. 65 of Nov. 6-12, 1943. Being in the middle of WWII and Malibu so rural at the time, this fire was not covered extensively by the press. Blackouts were in effect, Army and Coast Guard units were patrolling the area, and press access was likely shut down with all the wartime security.
This fire blew up an Army ammunition cache on Solstice Mountain on November 7, 1943. Our family watched this Impromptu fireworks display from our home on Latigo Beach. It was a spectacular scene to this nine-year old boy, still etched in my mind 70 years later.
Ronald L. Rindge