California fires: In Malibu, many residents vow the community will bounce back. But some wonder whether they can afford to rebuild
A view of the charred Santa Monica Mountains and Malibu homes from aboard the yacht of entrepreneur Howard Leight, who helped ferry supplies to Paradise Cove.
Mike Crowley stood outside his Malibu home and surveyed the land that surrounds his ranch. The fence behind him lay charred, the pepper trees lining his property singed by the devastating wildfire that has plagued Malibu for a week.
Although the rolling knolls around him sit blackened, he considers himself fortunate. His house, Sky Dog Ranch, was spared by the flames while the homes tucked into the hills above no longer light up the nighttime sky.
“It’s not going to be the same,” Crowley, 72, said. “The landscape of Malibu has changed.”
As California Highway Patrol officers reopened Malibu to residents Thursday and Friday, many were still coming to grips with the devastation and wondering how long it would take for the city to recover.
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Viewed by many as the playground for millionaires, tourists and millennial hikers laid out in glossy magazines, the famous seaside community is also home to older residents on fixed incomes and lifers who inherited houses purchased years ago — in some cases, generations — back when Malibu was the more affordable alternative to Santa Monica.
For some in that set, the damage will be too much to bounce back from.
“We’re both seniors,” Crowley said of his wife and himself. “If we lost our home, it’s not worth taking the time to rebuild. It’s easier for seniors to sell the lot and move on.”
A few people, he said, told him they will likely take their insurance money and “get out.”
“They said they couldn’t afford to stay here anymore,” Crowley said. “They’ll go buy a place near their kids, as much as they like it here. They just can’t afford it.”
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Los Angeles County coroner’s workers recover a body at a burned home in the 32000 block of Lobo Canyon Road in Agoura Hills on Wednesday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents and volunteers bring in supplies for people in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu. Surfboards, kayaks, small motor boats and stand-up paddleboards were used to get supplies from the boat to shore.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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A man ferries cases of water by surfboard to help residents in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents and volunteers who traveled by yacht from Redondo Beach come ashore with water and other supplies to help people in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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David Carr cries as he hugs his partner Rachel Bailey as they stand at their home in the Oak Forest Mobile Estates in Westlake Village destroyed in the Woolsey Fire. “I loved this house,” David Carr said.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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“We lost everything,” said Rachel Bailey. Bailey and her partner, David Carr, were vacationing in Mexico. They flew back Monday and saw what was left of their street in Oak Forest Mobile Estates in Westlake Village.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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LA County firefighter Battalion 13 Captain Victor Correa helps put out hotspot in a neighborhood on Harvester road in Malibu.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Bell Canyon residents wait for their name to be called after adding it to a list, to be escorted by police to their homes. If their homes were intact, they were given 10 minutes to retrieve important items, or the same time to view damage from the Woosley Fire.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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9-year-old Landon Quirk came with his father Trevor Quirk to help search through the rubble of a friend’s home in the Seminole Springs mobile home on Mulholland Drive in Agoura Hills.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Landon Quirk holds an object while searching through the rubble of a friend’s home in the Seminole Springs mobile home park.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. County Sheriff’s cruise the Seminole Springs mobile home park on Mulholland Drive in Agoura Hills.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Seminole Springs Mobile Home resident Barbara Sottile walks past homes of friends destroyed in the fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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AGOURA HILLS, CA - NOVEMBER 12, 2018. Seminole Springs Mobile Home resident Barbara Sottile takes a photo of a rainbow created by spraying water on homes destroyed in the development on Mulholland Drive in Agoura Hills.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighter Adam Rodriguez from Eloy, Ariz., sprays foam on a hot spot in a home on Mulholland Drive in the Malibu Hills that was destroyed by the Woolsey fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters from the L.A. County Fire Department put out a flare-up along Pacific Coast Highway across the street from the Malibu Beach RV Park on Monday morning.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
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Keith Clark, left, and Shane Clark sift through the rubble of Shane Clark’s Bell Canyon home, which was consumed by the Woolsey fire.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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A firefighter works to put out hot spots in and around structures destroyed by the Woolsey fire in Bell Canyon on Sunday.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Paullette Koenig hugs neighbor Gai Farbenbloom after both lost their homes at the Seminole Springs mobile home park in Malibou Lake.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A Southern California Edison employee hoses down a hot spot off Kanan Road on Nov. 10. The crew was checking for hot spots around power lines.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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A Los Angeles County Firefighter fights a structure fire at Camp 13, an inmate fire crew camp run by the Los Angeles County Fire Department off Decker Road above Malibu.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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A Los Angeles County firefighter runs while working to fight a structure fire at Camp 13 in Malibu.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Anne Marie Mueller is notified by L.A. County Sheriff’s Officer Ernie Ferreras that her friends in Malibu are safe.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A man stands in the middle of the street at the Seminole Springs mobile home park in Malibou Lake.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Sexton goes through the rubble from his house in Seminole Springs.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Michael Quane of El Segundo came to the El Porto area of Manhattan Beach to surf against the backdrop of billowing smoke from the Woolsey fire over Santa Monica.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Mark Cassar, at the entrance of his brother’s Westlake Village home his father built in 1990. The home was destroyed in the Woolsey fire.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Garet Anzalone, 23, is tearful as he goes through his grandmother’s burned-out property in a mobile home park in Westlake Village.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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David Spence, left, with friend Eric Winger, takes photos of his 1976 TR6 after the fire in a mobile home park in Westlake Village.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Lori Jackson, 52, looks for items that survived the fire in a mobile home park in Westlake Village.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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An American flag is melted on a burned-out car on property in a mobile home park in Westlake Village.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Garet Anzalone surveys his grandmother’s burned-out property in a mobile home park in Westlake Village.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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A home on Bell Canyon Boulevard in Bell Canyon was destroyed by the Woolsey fire.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles County firefighters extinguish a burning building at a residence off Kanan Road in Malibu on Saturday. The main house was undamaged.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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A scorched sign at the visitor center at Leo Carrillo State Beach, which was destroyed by the Woolsey fire.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Cars parked in front of the ruins of a house destroyed by the Woolsey fire off Kanan Road in Malibu on Saturday.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times )
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Los Angeles firefighters Ryan Miller, left, Justin Randolph and Kobe Sallstrom grab some brief rest at the corner of Flintlock Lane and Silver Spur Lane in Bell Canyon on Saturday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles firefighter Brittney Bebek sprays hot spots on Hitching Post Lane in Bell Canyon on Saturday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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A firefighter requests more water pressure as a house burns from the Woolsey Fire along P.C.H. in Malibu.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters walk near homes that are threatened by the Woolsey fire in Malibu. This homes in the area are known as Native.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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The Woolsey fire bears down on Pepperdine University.
(Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times)
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A firefighter walks towards his engine after trying to prevent the Woolsey fire from overtaking structures in Malibu.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Bell Canyon residents Kathleen and Eric Lee, left, watch the Woolsey fire at the mouth of Bell Canyon after evacuating.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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Bell Canyon residents Ann and Roger Bloxberg watch the Woolsey fire at the mouth of Bell Canyon after evacuating.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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A resident packs up his car as the Woolsey fire bears down on Dume Drive in Malibu.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Employees of a nearby confectionery use rakes and shovels to battle the Woolsey fire along Agoura Road in Westlake Village.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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The Woolsey fire burns near homes in West Hills.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters fight to save the home of Will Buckley on Dume Drive.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Llamas are tied to a lifeguard stand on the beach in Malibu as the Woolsey fire approaches.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A multi million dollar home on Dawn Meadow Court in the High Country neighborhood of North Ranch in Westlake Village continues to burn destroyed by fire Friday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Oak Park resident Tom Duffy hoses hot spots on a burnt house on Wembly Avenue.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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David Spence returns to find his home and belongings burnt in the Oak Forest Estates mobile home park in Westlake Village.
(Michael Owen Baker / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters try to save a burning home on Dapplegray Road in Bell Canyon.
(Michael Owen Baker / For the Times)
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Maria Narvaez evacuates her home on Almon Dr near Hillcrest in Thousand Oaks as Santa Ana winds continue to blow Friday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Mayor and firefighter Rick Mullen surveys a house on fire in Malibu as the Woolsey fire continues its path to the coast.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters battle a house fire on Churchwood Drive as the Woolsey Fire burns in the Oak Park neighborhood early Friday morning.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Resident Brett Hammond evacuates in Malibu as the Woolsey Fire approaches.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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An owl sits onthe beach in Malibu as the Woolsey fire approaches.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Horses are tied to a pole on the beach in Malibu as the Woolsey fire approaches.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Pacific Coast Highway backs up out of Malibu as the Woolsey fire forced evacuations Friday.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Horses are turned loose at the top of Las Trancas Canyon in Malibu on Friday as the Woolsey fire approaches.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Onlookers watch smoke from the Woolsey fire and take photos on Pacific Coast Highway looking southeast toward Malibu on Friday.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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The Woolsey fire approaches the top of Las Trancas Canyon Road on Friday morning.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Smoke from the Woolsey fire darkens the sky over the Pacific Ocean near Malibu on Friday.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Pacific Coast Highway backs up out of Malibu as the Woolsey fire forced evacuations Friday.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Jennifer Carter protects her face from smoke outside her home on Almon Drive in Thousand Oaks where several homes have been destroyed by the wind driven Woolsey fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents with a home on Las Trancas Canyon Road watch as the Woolsey fire approaches their home Friday.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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A firefighter extinguishes brush threatening a home on Quinta Visa Dr and E Hillcrest Rd in Thousand Oaks early Friday morning.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Maria Narvaez evacuates her home on Almon Dr. near Hillcrest in Thousand Oaks as Santa Ana winds continue to blow Friday morning.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Jesse Castro with Glendale Fire Dept shoots water into a home on Almon destroyed by the Woolsey fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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A firefighter battles a car fire on Churchwood Drive as the Woolsey fire rips Oak Park early Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Crews battle flames consuming a house on Churchwood Drive as the Woolsey fire tears through Oak Park early Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Crews battle flames consuming a home on Churchwood Drive as the Woolsey fire rips through the Oak Park neighborhood early Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A giant plume of smoke from the Woolsey Fire rises above homes in Calabasas.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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A resident evacuates his home in Thousand Oaks early Friday morning with only the clothes on his back. Residents were awoken in the middle of the night by mandatory evacuations from the Woolsey fire.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Firefighters try to keep embers from spreading to houses off Wembly Avenue and Lindero Canyon Road Thursday night as the Woolsey fire rages.
(Stuart W. Palley / For The Times)
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Carolina Heuel, a resident of the Miramonte Palmeras Tierras condominium complex in Camarillo Springs, prepares to evacuate after loading her two cats and a cockatiel into her car.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The Woolsey fire tore through Malibu’s scenic hillsides and into the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains last week, charring beloved landmarks such as the Backbone Trail and leaving smoldering ash where Spanish broom once bloomed.
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The blaze has chewed through 98,362 acres and claimed three lives in Los Angeles and Ventura counties since it broke out. More than 500 structures have been destroyed. It is 69% contained.
Among the Malibu landmarks damaged by the flames were three beloved Jewish camps where generations of Southern Californians have spent their summers.
Camp Hess Kramer and its sister camp, Gindling Hilltop Camp, suffered “extremely extensive” blows, said Seth Toybes, the camps’ director.
Among the remains at Hess Kramer are the dining hall and the conference center. At Hilltop, the arts and crafts building is still standing along with a group of brick cabins.
“We’ve been telling people basically 90% of the camps are gone and it’s not a lot of the usable places that remain,” Toybes said.
Toybes hasn’t been able to see the wreckage for himself, relying instead on photos from people who have been able to get through the roadblocks.
The menorah and wooden plaque still standing atop Rabbi Alfred Wolf Inspiration Point serve as a literal and figurative sign that the camp will be rebuilt, and that its spirit of empowerment for young people will live on, camp leaders said.
“When the tide settles, we’re going to go pick up the remnants,” said Aaron Wolf, grandson of Rabbi Wolf, who founded the camps.
Wolf said he plans on saving whatever pieces he can and placing them on the new walls they build. His grandfather built the camps after surviving Nazi Germany, he said, intent on creating a space not only for the Jewish community, but for everyone.
“The camps represent to the Jewish community in Los Angeles a progression after the Holocaust. It’s about being free and being able to be who you are,” he said. “Leaders like my grandfather have always found a way to bring hope in the wake of tragedy.”
Nearly half the homes in the Seminole Springs mobile home park off Mulholland Highway have been reduced to a gnarled mess of cinders, metal and rubble.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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In rebuilding, the camps will stand for that hope, Wolf said.
Camp JCA Shalom also plans on continuing its programs, said Rabbi Bill Kaplan, executive director of the Shalom Institute.
“We still have to assess,” he said. “Our goal is to rebuild in some way.”
Photos of the damage show its famed sign — shalom in Hebrew — felled by the blaze. Gone too are the amphitheater built by teen campers, the dining hall and the ropes course.
“There’s not a lot left,” Kaplan said. “I think Malibu will be different for years. But people will rebuild, and smarter.”
Some residents in the neighboring mountain communities don’t know whether they will be able to do the same. Nearly half the homes in the Seminole Springs mobile home park off Mulholland Highway have been reduced to a gnarled mess of cinders, metal and rubble.
“I’ve lost everything. My cat’s dead. My house is melted to the ground,” said Iris Coyne, a resident who has lived in the community for 21 years. “I don’t know what my plan is.”
Coyne’s home was paid off. The 66-year-old said she is underinsured and on a tight budget because she is living off Social Security.
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“It’s $40,000 just to move a new mobile home,” she said, waiting for a roadblock to be moved so she could go see the damage for herself. “I think recovering is going to take a lot longer than most of us anticipate.”
At a makeshift resource center in the parking lot of Point Dume Elementary School on Thursday evening, residents mingled, snacked on donated pastries and grabbed food for their pets. A sign pinned to the fence behind them read, “Malibu Strong.”
A wooden menorah and plaque honoring Camp Hess Kramer founder Rabbi Alfred Wolf are still standing after the Woolsey fire swept through Malibu.
(Ben Poston / Los Angeles TImes)
Richard Dean Anderson sat in the trunk of his hatchback with his two dogs, drinking coffee and reliving the battle he faced the week before. The “MacGyver” actor, who didn’t evacuate his Point Dume home, recalled the howling winds and the sensation of being caught in gusts so strong it felt as though he were caught in the middle of a whirlpool.
“There’s a stark reality that comes with it,” he said of the damage in the neighborhood. “If it’s not you, it’s friends you love who have lost everything.”
Eddie Erickson said he was still processing the level of destruction in the city.
“I don’t think it’s really even hit me yet,” the Malibu native said. “Point Dume’s never really been hit before, not like it’s been hit today. I haven’t come to grips with it yet.”
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Last week, Erickson watched as the flames plowed through his street and up to the home his parents left him. He saved his house and a few others in the area with “shovels, hoses and prayer.”
“We took a beating,” he said.
Erickson expects recovery will be a long road. But Point Dume is a tight community, he said — its residents will band together to restore the neighborhood, the same way they united to gather food, water and gasoline when the roads in and out were closed.
“Some of my friends lost their homes,” he said. “All I could say to them was, ‘I’ll help you rebuild.’”
Times staff writer Alejandra Reyes-Velarde contributed to this report.
Sarah Parvini was a reporter at the Los Angeles Times from 2014 to 2024. She most recently covered the video game industry and previously wrote about California’s diverse communities, with a focus on the state’s shifting demographics. She was part of the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attack, as well as a member of the investigative unit that uncovered scandals at USC’s medical school. The child of immigrants, she speaks fluent Persian and conversational Spanish.
