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Firefighters were completely gutted during the Woolsey fire on Wednesday, just under two weeks after the start of the deadly fire and several hours before a slight rainstorm was to move into the region and pose an additional threat to homes.
The huge forest fire claimed the lives of three people and consumed at least 1,640 buildings, measuring 151 square kilometers – almost the size of the Denver metro area – in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. .
It erupted in the afternoon of Thursday, November 8th at Woolsey Canyon, east of Simi Valley. It quickly spread to Thousand Oaks, forcing evacuations in the wake of a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 12 people at a local bar earlier on Thursday.
Stunned by the powerful winds of Santa Ana, the destructive fire exploded to reach 90,000 acres by the end of its first weekend. The evacuations hit a broad band of Santa Monica mountains and surrounding communities, with tens of thousands of residents evacuated from Camarillo to Malibu.
Authorities are still investigating what caused the fire, but a group of victims has already sued Southern California Edison, alleging negligence. The utility had previously stated that there was no indication to firefighters that his equipment could have been involved in the start of the fire.
Alfred Deciutiis, a retired 73-year-old oncologist, has chosen to stay at his home in an unincorporated area in the Santa Monica Mountains, south of Agoura Hills, despite mandatory evacuations.
Coroner officials are yet to positively identify the two other people killed, a man and a woman whose remains were found in a grilled SUV in Malibu the day after the fire started.
Many fear that the danger has not yet passed for the inhabitants of the region, the mudslides could be caused by a storm system that should hit the region late Wednesday night. Light rains began to fall in Malibu shortly before 10 pm, but rainfall was not yet high enough to cause much concern.
The authorities are working to prepare residents to use sandbags and apply other security measures because of debris flows that killed more than 21 people this year in Santa Barbara County, as a result of the Thomas Fire Forest Fire still present in the memories of Southern California.
Residents were asked to clear the drainage lanes around their homes and to prepare to close the utilities and evacuate. You can buy empty sandbags at local fire stations. You can find more information on storm preparation at LACounty.gov/LArain.
The authorities have planned to maintain the two disaster assistance centers open in Malibu and Agoura Hills for at least a few weeks. Residents and business owners can begin to apply for federal government assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585.
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