*The list of structures that survived the fire in Malibu, located further down in this article, will continually be updated as we learn more.*
[SUNDAY, 5:45 a.m.] On Sunday, the mandatory evacuation order for all of Malibu remained in effect. Much of the city was without electricity, internet, cell service and access to water. Pacific Coast Highway remained closed in both directions between Pleasant Valley Road in Oxnard and Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Threats remained to life and structures.
Santa Ana winds, which calmed Saturday, picked up Sunday morning, increasing the risk the Woolsey and Hill fires could continue to spread beyond their current footprints.
State Senator Henry Stern’s office announced the senator will hold a community meeting on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. at Taft High School, which has been functioning as an evacuation center for fire victims. It is located at 5461 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills.
“Senator Stern, who represents the communities affected by the fires, is convening this discussion to give residents the chance to ask questions and learn directly from the officials managing the response to the Woolsey and Hill Fires,” according to a press release. “Senator Stern will be moderating the conversation with senior representatives from public safety officials including: CALFIRE, CalOes, California Highway Patrol, Department of Toxic Substances and Control, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department, Los Angeles Sheriff Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Ventura County Sheriff Department, Southern California Edison and others. The meeting will include an opportunity for the community to ask questions.”
The City of Malibu cancelled all community events on its calendar for Sunday—and likely for the near future. That includes cancellation of the annual Veterans Day Ceremony, which was set to take place Sunday morning at Malibu City Hall.
[8:59 p.m.] The Woolsey Fire has grown to 83,275 acres, with five percent containment, according to CAL FIRE.
The state department expects to have the fire contained by Thursday, Nov. 15, per an incident update generated at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10.
It is classified as a vegetation fire, though the exact cause has not yet been determined.
As of now, 177 structures have been destroyed by the fire, and another two damaged; 57,000 structures are threatened.
[8:28 p.m.] The Ventura County Fire Department announced mandatory evacuations were lifted for certain areas of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Long Canyon, Wood Ranch, Bridal Path and Erbes Road at 8:27 p.m. Saturday.
Evacuations have NOT been lifted for the Malibu area.
Caltrans confirmed the 101 Freeway is still closed in both directions, from Reyes Adobe Road to Valley Circle Boulevard. Topanga Canyon Boulevard is closed from Mulholland Drive to Pacific Coast Highway. Westbound PCH is closed at Sunset Boulevard, while eastbound PCH is closed at Las Posas Road.
[5:58 p.m.] The LA County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the two bodies discovered on Friday, Nov. 9, “were found severely burned inside of a stopped vehicle located in a long narrow driveway.”
As previously stated, the incident took place in the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway, around 4:43 p.m.
[SATURDAY, 5 p.m.] “Our city was hit very, very hard. Our 21-mile city is under mandatory evacuation, and the reason for that is that it is mandatory. We lost dozens and dozens of homes, and it would have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for these wonderful first responders,” Malibu City Council Member Lou La Monte said during a press conference Saturday. “The wind is coming back tomorrow and mandatory evacuation means exactly that. So, please stay away from your homes until it is safe for you to go back.”
Information was slowly emerging Saturday, Nov. 10, about the state of Malibu’s neighborhoods and businesses following devastation due to the Woolsey Fire. The fire began in Simi Valley on Thursday, Nov. 8, at about 2:40 p.m., and spread across Malibu over the next 36 hours. There was reported five percent containment, with a burn area of at least 70,000 acres, by 5 p.m. Saturday, according to the LA County Fire Department.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau officials were investigating two deaths that occurred during the fire. In an alert, LASD confirmed bodies were found in the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway at approximately 4:43 p.m. Friday. It was not clear whether the deaths were a direct result of the fire and no further identification was made available.
By 4:30 p.m. Saturday, a full evacuation of Malibu and unincorporated areas around the city remained in effect. Pacific Coast Highway remained closed in both directions from Ventura County Line to Malibu’s eastern border, as hundreds of first responders worked to douse spot fires and workers from Southern California Edison began the task of cleaning up the downed power poles and lines throughout the city.
Winds died down during the day Saturday, but Santa Ana winds were expected to pick up, worsening fire danger into Sunday.
Over the course of the day Saturday, The Malibu Times was able to confirm a (partial) list of structures that survived the fire (as of 5 p.m.):
-Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue (no known damage)
-Neptune’s Net (no known damage)
-Pepperdine University (some damage in/around campus, no damage to structures)
-The Rock Store (no visible damage)
-The Old Place (no known damage)
-Colony Plaza/Ralphs Center (no visible damage)
-MUSE School (no damage)
-All homes on Latigo Shore Drive
-Point Dume Plaza (damaged, still standing)
-Native Hotel/Former Malibu Riviera (damaged, still standing)
-Malibu Seafood (no known damage)
-Solstice Ranch/Former BeauRivage (standing, structures nearby destroyed)
-Malibu High School (no damage to buildings, some damage on field)
-Point Dume, Juan Cabrillo, Webster elementary schools (no visible damage)
-Our Lady of Malibu Church / School (no visible damage)
-Malibu United Methodist Church (no visible damage)
-Malibu Presbyterian Church (no damage, power is out. Services to be held at Canoga Park Presbyterian Church Sunday at 10 a.m.)
-Trancas Country Market (no visible damage)
-Zooma Sushi/Coral Beach Cantina (no visible damage)
-Pt. Dume Clubhouse (still standing, no word on damage)
-Malibu Country Mart (no damage)
-Whole Foods construction site (no damage)
-No damage to any structures along either side of PCH from Ralph’s to Duke’s, including Malibu Pier, Zuma Jay’s, 99 High Tide, Nobu, PC Greens, etc.
-Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio (no damage)
-Cielo Farms
The fire was still 5% contained and the status of the above could change.
Several neighborhoods were hit very hard by the fire, which worked its way from Calabasas across Malibu Creek State Park and down many of Malibu’s western canyons. Especially noted was the Malibu Park neighborhood, which resident Rick Wallace said suffered losses of dozens of homes. Fire moved throughout the afternoon and well into the night Friday, taking out an unknown number of homes in the Malibu Park, Malibu West, Trancas, Kanan, Point Dume and Encinal neighborhoods, among others.
Pepperdine University—where students and faculty were instructed to shelter in place, per long-established university protocol—survived the fire bearing down on it throughout the night, thanks to water drops from helicopters that went on throughout the night and into the morning. There was controversy overnight regarding the policy.
Pepperdine University President Andrew K. Benton addressed a gathering of students sheltering in the Waves Cafe at around 11:40 p.m. Friday night, in a video released by a Pepperdine journalism student. In the statement, Benton described sheriff’s deputies arriving on campus, “with instruction but without authority,” attempting to evacuate students—in a direct contradiction of Pepperdine’s shelter-in-place strategy.
“We’re not getting good communication from central command,” Benton said, later adding, “I’m very irritated that [the] fire [department] did not anticipate this, did not get assets here, did not realize we were going to have 3,500 people on this campus.” Benton told students the miscommunication with the fire department, “frightened some of your brothers and sisters out onto the roadways and I don’t know where they are.”
Malibu Times classifieds advertising director and office manager Teresa Gelbman was in Malibu Saturday and described the damage she saw.
“It’s smoky as hell out there,” Gelbman described on Saturday afternoon. “The power poles that I saw on PCH—some of them were burnt in half and the top part was hanging. Some of them were still burning, and I saw one by Zuma [Beach] that was listing over into the street, but it hadn’t fallen over.”
“From what I could see—because you can’t see a lot from PCH—you actually have to go up the streets to see them—just from what I could see from the street, it looked pretty bad. It looks pretty bad,” Gelbman described. “It looked like—I don’t even know. It just looks bad. I haven’t seen anything like it in a really long time, that’s for sure. Usually, you get like one, or two, or three [homes burned], but to have whole blocks of houses wiped out, or neighborhoods gone—I wasn’t here for the La Costa fire, but it’s kind of reminiscent of that, I think.”
Gelbman also had a chance to speak to some of the firefighters still on scene.
“The fire guys that I talked to—they said it was overwhelming,” Gelbman said. “They had so many things happening all at once.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
