Fire Officials Rebut City Council Members’ Criticism

• One of the Key Issues Is the Arrival Time of the First Responders to Malibu Road

BY BILL KOENEKER

The official fire department incident commander’s report on the Jan. 8 fire that started at Bluffs Park and spread to Malibu Road, called the Malibu Incident, paints a different picture than has been suggested by some Malibu City Council members.

Mayor Ken Kearsley and Councilmember Sharon Barovsky have taken the fire department to task over the initial agency response to the fire that destroyed five homes, seriously daamaged a sixth home and left another six with fire scars.

This is in sharp contrast to many homowners in the Malibu Road area. A number of them recently threw a thank-you gathering for firefighters; and others, including resident Suzanne Somers who lost her home (see letter to the editor on page 4), praise firefighters for protecting hundreds of homes under difficult circumstances.

Contrary to many media reports on the fire, Barovsky has charged that it was 20 minutes before any fire companies made it to Malibu Road.

However, the Los Angeles County Fire Department report shows an altogether different timeline. It states that eight minutes after the fire was reported at 5:01 p.m., engine 70 was on the scene at Malibu Road. The report goes on to state that while on route, 70 was diverted to Malibu Road by the incident commander to check for exposures.

It was 19 minutes after the fire started, according to the report, that three structures were reported to be fully involved.

At 5:20 p.m., strike team 1120A was on the scene, fire officials report. By 5:25 p.m., additional resources began arriving.

The official report that was presented to the council by Assistant Fire Chief Reginald Lee at its last meeting indicates that a total of 300 personnel were used, including 44 engine companies, which included two strike teams, one quint, three helicopters, two paramedic squads, two water tenders, eight patrols, eight camp crews, one dozer team, 10 battalion chiefs, three assistant chiefs, two deputy chiefs, four public information officers, lifeguard resources, one Los Angeles City Fire Department strike team and two safety officers. State Parks provided one engine, two patrols and one water tender.

Chief Lee told the Malibu Surfside News this week, that he did not debate the council members’ statements at the meeting because “I wasn’t going to get into an argument with them.”

The 31-year LACFD veteran said he has not been contacted by either of the critical council members to follow up on their remarks. The City of Malibu contracts with Los Angeles County for fire protection services.

At a previous city council session, some council members called for a blue ribbon panel or committee to further investigate the handling of the fire. However, no such item is on the agenda for the city council meeting next Monday night.

The only agenda item related to the fire is an item for the termination of a declaration of local emergency for the Malibu incident.

Photo credit, MSN/Bill Koeneker

REPORT STANDS— Reginald Lee, the assistant fire chief for the Malibu area, Division 7 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, works out of the Carbon Beach Station headquarters. He outlined the Jan. 8 fire response timetable.