Crews Contain Franklin Fire, Weakened by Humidity
Aided by favorable weather conditions, Los Angeles County firefighters continue to combat the Franklin fire, centered on Malibu Canyon Road in Malibu Creek State Park.
Spurring from a brush-fire near Pepperdine University on Monday night, the airborne blaze swept across the celebrity vista with gusto, stressed by the Santa Ana Winds.
Quick response from the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) and volunteer brigades bated the flames.
By Wednesday, containment rose to 7%. The containment level, and fire size of 4,037 acres, stagnated and appeared stalemate for over 24 hours. As the area cooled, a sudden burst of resilient efforts boosted containment to 20% around noon on Thursday, and reached 30% by Thursday evening.
“One thing that really helped was the weather,” said Chris Thomas of LACoFD . “Today, the humidity’s up, it’s cooler, that makes it easier to do that.” Light rainfall also contributed to their successes.
“We also have 37 crews on this fire, the ones who go in and do all that stuff, so we’ve got a lot of people,” said Thomas. Additional ammo at work includes 223 engines, 12 dozers, and 12 water tenders, totaling 1974 personnel.
Containment entails circling the fire and clearing paths, ranging from three to eight feet in length, that contain no flammable materials, like brush. “But that doesn’t mean the fire’s out; it could still be smoldering underneath,” said Thomas. “In a lot of those areas, in the canyons and stuff, the fireline’s very jagged, so there’s areas where they can do more quickly than others.”
“Some of those areas, they can clear a large area one at a time,” said Thomas. “They’ve pushed the fire back onto itself and they’ve created an area where they’re confident they can stop straightforward progress.”
The sudden spike in containment is a hopeful development for thousands of evacuees.
“Roughly 7,600 structures are in the fire footprint,” said Deputy Fire Chief Eleni Pappas at a noontime press conference on Thursday.
5600 of these structures are single-family dwellings. An incomplete assessment has confirmed several damages.
“Four homes have been destroyed, six homes have been damaged and we’re reporting five outbuildings or smaller structures like sheds, things like that, that have been destroyed,” said Pappas. “So we have a total of nine structures destroyed and (six) damaged, and again, that’s only 25% of the total assessment.”
“Currently we have 6,300 citizens evacuated from their homes and I want you to know that we do not take that lightly,” said Dusty Martin, CAL FIRE Assistant Chief, at a press conference on Wednesday night. “Our time, our unified command; we are working diligently to get people back into their homes.”
In spite of the widespread evacuation orders, fleers evidently shunned one resource. The evacuation shelters found themselves sites of low participation. On Tuesday, the sole Evacuation Shelter in Pacific Palisades was thwarted by uninhabitable low temperatures. None but five loyalists trucked over to the second shelter in Santa Monica.
Volunteers CJ Jimenez and Michelle Brekke monitor the shelter, located at 2828 4th Street. The site is still populated by five citizens as of Wednesday.
This scant utilization wasn’t shocking to Jimenez, who could explain residents’ behavior.
“Their insurance kicked in,” she said. “Or (most people) were able to stay somewhere else, like relatives or friends.”
For those who need it, the evacuation shelters provide a place to sleep and a reliable source of food. “Also warmth,” said Jimenez. “And general information, what’s going on.”
“Three meals a day,” Brekke added. “And recovery afterwards. After this, the Red Cross provides assistance, to help people get on their feet if they need it.”
Distance might account for the lack of corresponding patronage.
Jimenez stated, “I know that… it might be hard for people to get to this site.”
“One time we had to evacuate, then we had to evacuate from the evacuation site,” said Brekke. She asserts, even if transport difficulties are incurred, healthy distance from the site of danger is preferred.
Animal-specific evacuation shelters are available for small animals at the Agoura Animal Care Center on 29525 Agoura Road in Agoura Hills, and for large animals at Pierce College on 6201 Winnetka Avenue in Woodland Hills.
“There was a valiant effort amongst firefighters in this first 36 to 48 hours,” said Pappas. “It was an incredible show of commitment that contained the fire to the footprint you see today.”
Their activity closed several stretches of Pacific Coast Highway, including Tuna Canyon, Kanan, and Piuma Road at Malibu Canyon. Other street closures include Saddle Peak at Tuna Canyon, Stunt Road at Mulholland Highway, and Cold Canyon at Piuma Road.
After sheltering-in-place for two nights, Pepperdine students are permitted to resume campus activity.
Santa Monica College’s Malibu campus closed on Dec. 10 and will remain shut down until Friday, Dec. 13.