Malibu West Plans to Create Fire Safety Council

• Homeowners Take a Proactive Stance in an Area that Has Not Burned in 30 Years

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu West homeowners and their association indicate they are taking fire safety and disaster preparations to a new level given the three wildfires of 2007.
The neighborhood of tract homes located in Trancas Canyon is considered a close-knit community of 237 residences, but is nearly surrounded by undeveloped wildlands that become tinder in a wildfire.
Homes which were built in the 1960s are sited among old growth creekside trees and plants. There is one road in and the same one road out for the residents and firefighters in the box canyon.
The last fire burned in 1978 and many residents know only too well the rugged hillsides and wildlands above and behind them will once again explode into a fiery conflagration.
Designated as a community at risk and knowing a wildfire that engulfed the canyon bottom neighborhood could take out almost a half-billon dollars in real estate, many homeowners insist now is the time to take action.
The Malibu fires of 2007 are described as a “wake up call” for fire safety in the west end community.
First and foremost, residents believe they need to maintain a defensible space around Malibu West.
The goal emphasized in a position paper written about the neighborhood’s ambitions is “to reduce vulnerability of wildfire loss by organizing, training, and coordinating community-wide disaster preparedness and emergency response and implementing preventive fire measures. We will utilize many tools in the fire safety tool box; brush clearance in ways appropriate to the vegetation and terrain, including utilizing goats, promoting fire-smart building and landscaping, proactive equipping and educating homeowners in emergency preparedness including using gel and creating a community map for responding agencies and CERT teams to locate water sources and Go Kits stocked with emergency supplies and to know where there are home-bound residents or others who would need help in an emergency or evacuation.”
In addition to the major grant for funding that was announced by the group last week, the neighborhood has received a donation of a used truck that carries 2000 gallons of water. The group hopes to coordinate with the Los Angeles County Fire Department to use the truck as a mobile source of water for the area.
To get the word out and encourage homeowners, forum and educational workshops are planned and public information events are also being considered to attract widespread media exposure.
The HOA also pledged $50,000 from its budget for funding fire hazard reduction efforts.