The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday formally declared the Woolsey Fire a local emergency in order to free up more state and federal funds for recovery efforts, while Malibu residents turned out to both thank first responders and criticize some emergency efforts.
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl promised the county would have residents’ backs.
“The county succeeded wildly and failed. And we will probably continue to do so,” Kuehl said, expressing optimism for more successes in the battle against the blaze. “Our hearts are with you, it’s really true … I promise that we will be there and we will do everything we can to make this recovery work.”
Kuehl said at least two disaster recovery and assistance centers would be set up to provide a one-stop shop for residents to access federal, state and local programs and apply for temporary housing, consult with building officials about reconstruction and replace government-issued documents such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses.
“Right now, our number one priority is containing the Woolsey Fire and ensuring public safety,” said Kuehl, who represents the areas affected by the fires. “But we know that another enormous task lies before us. … This fire is going to have a profound impact on many people’s lives, and we are doing everything in our power to jump-start the recovery effort and ease the hardship in any way we can.”
While some evacuation orders in communities to the north have been lifted, much of Malibu and some nearby communities remain under mandatory evacuation and officials repeatedly urged residents to stay away and stay safe.
“We fully understand that each house is a home. Each home has a life and memories attached to it,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell said during a Tuesday morning news conference. “We see the pain and frustration of people trying to get back to their homes to assess for themselves what is left. We want to get you home. But more importantly, we want you alive.”
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby echoed that concern in a report to the board, saying embers and flare-ups continued to pose significant danger.
“We’re concerned about other communities, that’s why we have not let citizens go back home,” Osby said. “We’re still concerned about Malibu Canyon because there’s a fire deep in the canyon that they don’t have access to. We’re doing a lot of air drops, but it’s not safe for our firefighters to go in there. Our concern is that when the wind shifts (as forecast on Thursday) … that fire does not blow out of there and then creep over to the south side of Malibu or into Topanga Canyon.”
“When it’s safe to let people come back home, we will,” the fire chief told the board.
In addition to live embers, other dangers exist in the fire zone, including downed power poles, live power lines, buckled roads and destabilized hillsides that could cause landslides.
But many residents never evacuated or have returned home, sharing images on social media.
In comments to the board, some criticized authorities who wouldn’t allow them to return home to save pets or pick up medication and other belongings.
Others begged for help for neighbors acting as amateur firefighters.
Eric Haskell said it took his family six hours to evacuate the fire zone in what “felt like a free-for-all” and told the board a number of Malibu residents were working to put out hot spots.
“Local citizens need water, they need resources, they need gas generators … they’re doing a lot of the work themselves,” Haskell said.
Actor Pierce Brosnan, who has lived in Malibu for more than 35 years, said he’d seen many devastating fires but “none as catastrophic as the events that have taken place in our community these past five days and nights. The lives of many families, friends and neighbors have been turned to ash. Many cannot be with us today because they are fighting to protect their property and homes … they fight to survive without water, electricity, food, gas and in some cases, shelter.”
Brosnan also thanked first responders, telling the board, “We have watched as our firefighters and police force have battled with overwhelming courage and heart and conviction to save our homes and our lives.”
Resident Deborah Frankel complained about what she believed was a diversion of critical resources to Pepperdine University, where students were sheltering in place instead of being evacuated.
“Pepperdine needs to get their students out next time,” Frankel said.
The university has defended the shelter-in-place protocol struck with the Los Angeles Fire Department and pointed to brush clearance and fire-resistant buildings on campus as evidence that no special treatment was required.
One resident called for an investigation into the Las Virgenes Water District, saying 19 homes were lost in Corral Canyon where he said there was no water.
That claim contradicted Osby, who earlier had thanked utilities for providing non-stop water for the firefight.
“We never lost water,” Osby said.
Kuehl said the county would look at how water was allocated during the emergency.
At least one resident complained about media coverage, drawing applause from the crowd.
“The media’s irresponsible too. I don’t need to be listening to the radio about how Caitlyn Jenner’s house is burning down. I need to survive,” one resident told the board.
Frankel and several others called for expedited permits for rebuilding and for more and better coordinated resources for future fires.
“For now we really need to get permits for people to rebuild as soon as possible,” Frankel said.
Many others, including Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, came only to thank firefighters and others who put their lives at risk.
One man told the board, “I don’t really know what to say other than thank you,” before being overcome with emotion.
In his update, which came before the comments from Malibu residents, Osby thanked the sheriff’s department for working in the fire’s smoke column to evacuate residents, putting their own personnel in extreme danger.
“I can’t tell you how many people” called saying “I’m trapped,” Osby said. “We spent a significant amount of our time protecting lives … evacuating people, unfortunately at the expense of structures … our firefighters put themselves in extreme, extreme peril.”
Fire personnel are still assessing the damage, but Osby confirmed that at least 500 structures had been destroyed and said he expected that number to grow significantly.
Resources were limited because fire agencies from Northern California were unable to send additional aid while fighting a fire in which people were dying. Los Angeles County also turned down a request for help from officials in Northern California due to the “extreme fire danger here,” Osby said. “That was a hard decision to make.”
Osby put the death toll in the Camp Fire at 50 and said he thought it would ultimately exceed 100 lives. The latest official toll from Northern California officials was 42 people.
Two people have died in the Woolsey Fire. Osby repeatedly emphasized that the number-one objective was to save lives first, property second and then to contain the perimeter of the fire.
Kuehl mentioned that Osby had told the board that his crews were “depressed because they couldn’t save every structure.”
Osby called the situation in which both halves of the state were fighting big fires this late in the fire season “unprecedented,” and said the Woolsey Fire — which covered acreage the size of Denver — is “probably the worst fire in our jurisdiction in modern times.”
Up-to-date information on evacuations in Los Angeles County is available at www.lacounty.gov/woolseyfire or www.211LA.org/fire.
“Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of County residents, including County employees, who have been directly, and in many cases, devastatingly affected by this tragedy,” Kuehl said.