Water Tanks And Work Boots: Preparing For Disasters In Malibu

MALIBU, CA — What's the best way to prepare for a 97,000-acre fire?

There are the obvious answers, like having an exit strategy out of the house and having some extra food, water, and batteries. But in Malibu, a city regularly battered by fire and observing the two-year anniversary of the Woolsey Fire, residents are leaving nothing to chance.

In Malibu, being prepared means: steel siding, installing a metal roof, gutter shields against embers, fire sprinklers, and minimal wood siding stained with fire retardant. It means three 420-gallon tanks for rain capture in the winter, along with a thousand-gallon stainless steel drinking water tank. It means installing a 10-kilowatt solar system with two 10-kilowatt lithium storage batteries and a 10-kilowatt portable generator.

This is just a brief description of the efforts that Corey and Denusia Larsen, who were voted Best Prepared Overall in Malibu, have taken to secure their home. On Monday night, the Malibu City Council awarded three Malibuites deemed most prepared for fires and other disasters.

Right before the awards, Denusia, who lost her home during the Woolsey Fire, called in to encourage Malibuites dealing with an onerous rebuilding process not to give up.

"A few years ago today events that took away our home of 23 years," she said. "We were dismayed, in denial, and angry. there were so many emotions that followed us that day, but determination, refusing to bow to defeat, and just wanting to come home has made that day the day to say we are done. On Sept. 9, 2020, we received our certificate of occupancy, we were number 8, and today, the landscaping is finished. We can actually say we are home. To everyone who lost everything two years ago, we can say it is possible to let go of all the emotions tied to just trying to get back home. We are writing off the last two years today, and starting our lives where we left off. It can be done. You too can write that final chapter and close the book on this disaster. It will not be easy, but you can do it. I wish all of you strength, endurance, and above all, the love of life to help you get back."

Mayor Mikke Pierson announced the two other winners of the "Best Prepared" challenge, which received 12 submissions and eventually decided to choose three winners in different categories.

Pamela Conley Ulich won "Best Personally Prepared." Ulich has received CERT training, and has on-hand a kit with solar panels, a hand crank radio, a CERT backpack, solar-powered flashlights, emergency food supply, a respirator, satellite phone, work boots, first aid kit, hard hat, and more.

David Kramer won the "Best Prepared For Fire Resilience" Award. Kramer and his family redid the outside of the home, replacing all of the wood shingles on their home with fire-resistant cement shingles and boxed in all the eaves on their roof. The Kramers have attended city-hosted preparedness trainings, and have their go-bags packed with evacuation plans and a city of Malibu emergency survival guide.

During the 45-minute special Council session devoted to memorializing the fire, Councilmembers each reflected on the anniversary and what it means to prepare for inevitable future fires.

"The Larsens, their son is one of my son’s best friends and has been since the fourth grade, and there have been so many friends and neighbors and people I’ve known for decades who lost everything, and it’s painful to watch that happen, but we all get to share in your triumph as you rebuild, and I look forward to more and more of those certificates of occupancy being issued, more applications coming in, and I really think this coming year is gonna bring us another huge wave of rebuilds, and this new attitude of preparedness," said Councilmember Karen Farrer.

"The Malibu of the future is gonna look different," said Councilmember Rick Mullen, who is also a fire captain. "The construction of the buildings is gonna look different, the layout of the landscaping, etc. and to a point where I think that if a similar fire came through, the results would be a lot more favorable in terms of survivability of the buildings." Mullen also remarked that the city of Malibu has made it easier than LA County has for residents to go through the rebuilding process through hiring an ombudsman and waiving permit rebuilding fees.

But attorney and presumptive Councilmember-elect Bruce Silverstein cautioned against too much self congratulations. "I'm glad that this commemoration is occurring, but as we know today is a somber day and I'm hopeful this will be appropriately recognizing that the presentation will address the work that still needs to be done," said Silverstein, who said that he decided to get involved in city politics over anger at a Council meeting right after the fire that he felt was too self-congratulatory. "So many people have made hardly any progress in getting their homes back - we should not be commemorating success, but looking forward to success in the future."

Pierson ended on a reflective note. His voice broke as he noted that he personally knew two of the three Malibuites who died during the fire, Anthony Noubar Baklayan and his mother Shoushan Baklayan. "I’d go over their house and she always she cooked great desserts," he said. "And I hadn’t seen Anthony in quite a while, but at one of the events at City Hall I ran into his widow terry, and I’ve gotten to know her and communicated with her today and many times in between, and what a tough slice of real life. What a tough deal. What a tough deal for everyone who lost their home. What a tough deal for the community at large. Absolutely devastating. And it’s hard to watch and realize that it’s not just your house burning down - it’s everything else in life that goes on at the same time that can be really hard. Just cause your house burns down doesn't mean other things don't happen."

Check out Patch's series on the fire's one-year anniversary:

Photos That Captured The Heartache And Enormity Of Woolsey Fire

No Going Back After Woolsey: How The Monster Changed Firefighting

Adapting, Learning And Soul-Searching: Reflecting On Woolsey Fire

Life After Woolsey: Malibu Still Soul-Searching One Year Later