Surviving a brush with disaster

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers AFTERMATH—A lone firefighter appears drained standing under the smoke-shrouded sky in Oak Park ast Thursday, while a helicopter hovers above. All that is left of the fire is the telltale evidence that it passed through here, the blackened hillsides, the light dusting of ash on the sidewalks and the scent of burned brush still lingering in the now-cleared air. That, and the stories of hundreds of families who loaded their children and pets into cars along with a few personal treasures and left their homes behind, not knowing if they would return to a home or a smoldering pile of debris.

The hills are blackened all around Las Virgenes Canyon, north of the 101 Freeway in Calabasas. The scorched landscape stretches from Simi Valley to Oak Park, frighteningly close to many homes in Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Westlake Village.

In some places, only a few feet separate the charred terrain from the houses and ranches, but the darkened horizon is also proof that the local firefighters did their job well.

Calabasas resident Jan Rosenthal is among those who had a brush with disaster. Her family was evacuated at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday and returned home on Friday afternoon, stunned by how close the fire had come to their Mountain View Estates neighborhood.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers HOT SEAT—Oak Park resident Hannah Knowles, 12, sits by her backyard pool nervously awaiting the outcome of the fire. “It was an amazing sight to see our house standing there and it was wonderful,” said Rosenthal, grateful that everybody was safe and her home intact.

The happy ending and dozens like it came as the result of a highly successful firefighting operation. The chain of command worked to perfection, officials said, as fire crews from throughout California worked tirelessly to protect lives and save property.

Now dubbed the Topanga Fire because it originated near Topanga Canyon Road in Chatsworth, the blaze scorched more than 30 square miles of open space in East Ventura County and West Los Angeles County last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The fire also spread into portions of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, where Rocketdyne tests rocket engines and missiles. Two hundred employees were evacuated and the plant’s testing was canceled, reports said.

The blaze began about 2 p.m. Wednesday and headed southwest until the winds switched back to a northeast direction on Thursday afternoon. By the end of the weekend it was mostly out, as firefighters quickly turned their attention to another Southland blaze, in Burbank.

Fire crews from all over California, along with local officials, law enforcement representatives, public works agencies and Red Cross personnel assisted the local operations, which included hundreds of evacuations in the wee hours of Thurs., Sept. 29.

Participating agencies included the Los Angeles City Fire Dept., the Los Angeles County Fire Dept., Ventura County Fire Dept., the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the National Park Service, the Office of Emergency Services and the U.S. Forest Service.

A command post was first established at the Agoura Hills/ Calabasas Community Center but was later moved to Thousand Oaks to better accommodate the expanding fire crews.

Although three homes and three commerical properties were destroyed, firefighters saved more than 2,000 homes, said Capt. Joe Luna, spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department.

High winds earlier in the week created flareups within the fire perimeter and kept the remaining crews busy. Mop up and patrol of the 49 miles of fireline continues.

Giving thanks

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, state Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, Ventura County Supervisors Judy Mikels and Linda Parks, as well as Barry Groveman, mayor of Calabasas, praised the firefighters’ effectiveness.

Unlike the recent events in New Orleans, this was a coordinated disaster response in which residents cooperated with authorities, Pavley said.

Many residents went to great lengths to express their thanks to local public safety officials.

Rosenthal and her family delivered food, paid for by Viewpoint School, to local guards, sheriff ’s deputies and firefighters.

Oak Park students Eden Weisman, April Pollack, and Alexa and Michaella Yarnella held a bake sale and raised $300, which was used to buy grocery store scrip for Fire Station 36 on Deerhill Road, located near the front line of the fire. Assessing the damage

While L.A. and Ventura s county officials declared a state of local disaster in an effort to recoup firefighting costs—estimated at more than $14 million as of Wednesday—the governor has yet to do the same.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the area and sang the praises of firefighters who were still on the fire lines.

“Every other governor is jealous of me because we have the best firefighters,” Schwarzenegger said during a brief stop at the Thousand Oaks command post at Conejo Creek Park.

But the governor should join FEMA, the federal agency, and declare the area a disaster, Parks said.

Without the state designation, the fire departments won’t be fully reimbursed for coming to the aid of local firefighters.

“The last thing we want fire departments to consider before deciding whether to save houses in another county is whether they can afford it,” Parks said.

The federal government authorized emergency funds to pay for 75 percent of the costs for the emergency response.

If the governor declares a disaster, the federal government will reimburse much of the state’s share, Parks said.