Fire 65 percent contained; Corral Canyon at Pacific Coast Highway closed, except to residents with identification.
A fast moving brushfire southeast of Castro Peak and east of Latigo Canyon has been 65 percent contained as of 2 p.m. today.
Unusual midwinter Santa Ana winds topping 35 miles per hour and bone-dry heat spread the flames quickly burning approximately 35 acres of National Park Service land. A burned-out SUV sitting upwind of the fire, on the Castro Peak Motorway, is likely the cause of the fire, said Information Officer Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
By mid-afternoon, the fire was largely out, but hand crews were still working in treacherous brush to extinguish hotspots.
“One big gust and those embers will start a fire that can burn straight to the ocean,” said Fire Chief R.C. Lee of Station 71.
The fire was spotted at 4:48 a.m. by a City of Los Angeles fire helicopter heading back to L.A. from a major blaze east of Anaheim.
Six city and county helicopters began dumping water on the fire in the predawn darkness, a risky maneuver that is rarely attempted. That action, shown on live television, apparently succeeded in quickly reducing the heat at the fire’s edge and slowing its advance.
Although the fire is located just west of the top of Corral Canyon Road, winds were pushing smoke and the attendant fire danger southwest, toward homes along lower Latigo Canyon Road and in the Malibu Bowl area, five miles north of Pacific Coast Highway. Working from a staging station near Kanan Dume and Latigo Canyon roads, fire hand crews were laying a 5,000-foot-long hose connection between the nearest hydrant at Castro Peak and the fire site.
Dozens of fire trucks from the Los Angeles County and city fire departments, as well as a few from Ventura County, were spotted this afternoon scattered among the 100 or so houses in Malibu Bowl and along Latigo Canyon Road.
Some horses were moved out of corrals in that area as a precaution, and that road was closed between Kanan Dume Road and Pacific Coast Highway, except to residents.
On Corral Canyon Road, workers quickly filled in slumping pavement at the chronic landslide site, and pushed barriers out of the way to allow residents and fire trucks a continuous two-way access and evacuation route. Earlier in the day, the one-lane chokepoint about a mile north of Pacific Coast Highway was the subject of stress and concern to residents of Malibu Bowl, who have no other access route.
Despite the excitement, no structures are located within two miles of the fire, and the biggest impact seemed to among Malibu’s public school children, who got a day off as school officials acted to prevent possible traffic congestion if large-scale evacuations were necessary.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sent 20 deputies from outside the Malibu area to assist the 15 deputies from the local office assigned to traffic control and possible evacuations. The deputies made quick plans to evacuate the city between Trancas and Puerco canyons, with persons east of Kanan-Dume Road headed toward Santa Monica, and persons west of that intersection directed toward Ventura County. Extra California Highway Patrol officers were sent here as well.
Fire equipment was being staged at the Malibu City Hall and at Rocky Peak, near Mulholland Highway at Kanan Road. Evacuation center preparations were at Bluffs Park, which was closed to public use and classes today. The command post would remain at Station 71, officials said.
But by midday, the wind had slackened, hand crews were finishing what the helicopters had started, and the crisis preparations were put on hold.