Corral Canyon Residents Gather for Second Anniversary of Nov. 24 Wildfire

• Awards Established to Thank County Officials Who Aided the Unincorporated Area

BY ANNE SOBLE

As a week of strong Santa Ana winds and high fire danger was being forecast for the Malibu area, several hundred Corral Canyon residents and guests gathered last Sunday to observe the second anniversary of the Corral Fire that irrevocably changed many of their lives.
Coordinated by the Corral Canyon Safety Alliance, the neighborhood held the private event to reflect on what has transpired since flames broke out in the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 24, 2007.
Even though the alleged perpetrators of the inferno that claimed 53 homes and damaged 35 others, as well as killed many domestic animals when it destroyed 4900 acres, are still wending their way through the judicial system, residents are making progress with rebuilding, even as many of them complain about the slow pace of the wheels of justice.
The gathering at BeauRivage also was an opportunity to express gratitude to public officials who have assisted residents—most of whom are located in unincorporated Malibu in the Los Angeles County Third Supervisorial District.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky; his field deputies Susan Nissman and Cynthia Scott; and Sheriff’s Captain Tom Martin were presented the first Corral Canyon Community Service Awards “in recognition of their outstanding commitment to Corral Canyon and the fire victims since the fire.”
Residents honored Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman, who is retiring in March, with the Freeman Award, “named in his honor in recognition and appreciation of his exceptional leadership, fearless honesty and devoted public service to the citizens of Los Angeles and in particular, the residents of Corral Canyon.”
These awards will be ongoing.
CALFIRE LITIGATION
The residents might have had more cause to believe that those who start wildfires, whether accidentally or maliciously, will be deterred if it had been announced before this Monday that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection filed a $7.7 million civil cost recovery action against William Thomas Coppock, Brian Alan Anderson, Brian Franks, Eric Matthew Ullman, and Dean Allen Lavorante, the five men who allegedly started the Corral Fire in Malibu State Park,
Saying it spent at least $7,728,362 fighting the blaze. CalFire seeks damages for negligence and violations of the Health and Safety Code, according to the agency’s public information officer, Daniel Berlant.