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Body Found In Burned Out Agoura Hills Home

List of Closures and Evacuations | Real-Time Updates AGOURA HILLS (CBSLA) – A body found Tuesday in a charred Agoura Hills Home in the Woolsey Fire burn area is believed to belong to a man in his 70s. (CBS2) The Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed to CBS2 Wednesday that the body was found at a scorched home in a remote canyon in the 32000 block of Lobo Canyon Road. The area around the home was completely scorched by the fire. L.A. County Sheriff’s homicide detectives at the scene told CBS2 they responded to the residence Tuesday after neighbors reported that the homeowner had not been seen since the Woolsey Fire broke out. Cadaver dogs found the man’s body in the burned out shell of the home, the sheriff’s department said. Coroner’s investigators were called out to identify the victim’s remains. This could be the third victim of the Woolsey Fire. The badly burned bodies of two people were found Nov. 9 inside a burned vehicle in a long driveway in the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway in Malibu. Sheriff’s detectives believe the vehicle may have become engulfed in flames when the driver became disoriented. LATEST COVERAGE OF THE WOOLSEY FIRE The 97,000-acre Woolsey Fire broke out around 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 8 in the area of Alfa Road and East Street, south of Simi Valley. On Nov. 9, it jumped the south side of the 101 Freeway at Chesebro Road near Calabasas and began spreading into Malibu.

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Body Found In Burned Out Agoura Hills Home

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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Containment On Woolsey Fire Jumps, But Winds Still Unpredictable

written by RoscoeLawless

List of Closures and Evacuations | Real-Time Updates MALIBU (CBSLA) – Hundreds of firefighters battling the devastating Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties continued to make progress Wednesday against the blaze, but will have to contend with another round of unpredictable Santa Ana winds. A fireplace and chimney are all that remains of a house on Busch Drive in Malibu, Calif., on Nov. 13, 2018, a casualty of the Woolsey Fire. (Getty Images) The Woolsey Fire grew to 97,620 acres as of 6 a.m. Wednesday and was 47 percent contained, according to the L.A. County Fire Department. The fire has destroyed at least 483 structures and another 57,000 remain threatened. Cal Fire Assistant Chief Chris Anthony noted there was significant fire activity overnight on the fire’s western flank in Ventura County, particularly in the Sycamore Canyon and Point Mugu area. This followed a large flare-up that erupted near Lake Sherwood south of Thousand Oaks on Tuesday afternoon which forced residents who had just been allowed to return home to flee again. That flare-up sparked just before 9 a.m. in the Boney Mountains State Wilderness Area off Potrero and Lynn roads, near Lake Sherwood and Hidden Valley communities. It reached about 1,000 acres, but did not destroy any structures. LATEST COVERAGE OF THE WOOLSEY FIRE “A large unburned couple of canyons of fuel there, the fire came into alignment at the bottom of the canyon, and along with our significant winds, it pushed it up to a prominent peak we call Boney Mountain,” Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen told reporters at a news briefing. Despite the flare-ups, evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday in multiple areas including Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, an eastern section of Malibu and the northern section of Topanga. Members of the public can determine if their property is in an area that has been re-populated by clicking here . Woolsey Fire Real-Time Evacuation Map Meanwhile, L.A. County Sheriff’s investigators were at a charred home in Agoura Hills Wednesday were a body was found. Two people who died in the fire were found Nov. 9 inside a burned vehicle in a long driveway in the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway. Three firefighters have been injured battling the Woolsey Fire. The Woolsey Fire broke out around 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 8 in the area of Alfa Road and East Street, south of Simi Valley. On Nov. 9, it jumped the south side of the 101 Freeway at Chesebro Road near Calabasas and began spreading into Malibu. Some 3,592 firefighters were assigned to battle the blaze, while 22 helicopters worked from above, officials said. A total of 619 engines, 48 water tenders, 23 bulldozers and 57 hand crews were sent into the battle, Cal Fire reported. According to Cal Fire, more than a half-million gallons of fire retardant has been dropped already on the Woolsey Fire, along with 1.5 million gallons of water. The 101 Freeway from Valley Circle Boulevard remained open. Pacific Coast Highway remained closed to all traffic from the Ventura/Los Angeles County line to Sunset Boulevard. Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby told the Board of Supervisors there are flames burning deep in the Malibu Canyon area that fire crews cannot access. “We’re doing a lot of air drops but it’s not safe for our firefighters to go in there,” he said. “Our concern is that when the wind shifts (likely on Thursday) … that fire does not blow out of there and then creep over to the south side of Malibu or into Topanga Canyon. A meeting Tuesday night at Santa Monica High School’s Barnum Hall began with cheers for first responders, but was quickly followed by some residents walking out because they felt their concerns were not being addressed. “They were not prepared, the fire department was not prepared,” Malibu resident Forrest Stuart told CBS2. “My house was saved by my next door neighbor who is an 85-year-old retired, decorated fire chief. He and his wife are 85 and they stood there all night and knocked away embers that hit my house. I’m pretty angry about it.” “My family is OK, we lost our home, evacuee Marybeth Massett told CBS2. “It’s just sad, feelings of frustration are normal. I have the deepest respect for our first responders who do heroes work all the time and, unfortunately, they couldn’t be everywhere at once.” In Malibu, Pepperdine University said the school’s Malibu and Calabasas campuses would remain closed through Thanksgiving. All Malibu schools in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District will remain closed until at least Thursday, the district announced. City officials said there will likely be intermittent power outages due to weather and fire conditions. Los Angeles Unified School District officials said Topanga Elementary Charter School will be closed again Wednesday, and will likely remain closed “until roadways around the school are reopened and the school is no longer within an evacuation zone.” Fire information for Los Angeles County can be found here . Malibu also has established a website to update fire information here . (© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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Containment On Woolsey Fire Jumps, But Winds Still Unpredictable

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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Van Nuys Students Raise Thousands For Teacher Who Lost Home In Woolsey Fire

written by BrentDawson

VAN NUYS (CBSLA) — A Van Nuys teacher is learning a lesson from her own students about how generous and caring people can be. When Reesa Partida had to leave behind the house she was renting in Agoura Hills to escape the flames of the Woolsey Fire, she was aware she could lose everything. “Pretty much expecting the worst, just knowing where we were and how strong the winds were,” she said. But even as the worst happened and her home was completely destroyed, she still regrets the loss of certain irreplaceable items, like her wedding dress and her Christmas decorations. “Some of that stuff, my grandma gave me,” Partida said. “She’s dead now, and [they] can’t be replaced.” But instead of dwelling on her circumstances, she still went to work as a dance teacher at Van Nuys High School – and her students noticed. “Even the day that she was evacuated at 2 a.m. in the morning, she came to school and told us, ‘hey, I’m here to dance with you, because what good is it gonna do for me to just sit at an evacuation center and watch the news? I’m here for you guys to dance,’” a student, wearing a pullover with the name “Brandon” on it, recalled. Four of her Partida’s students jumped into action, asking their friends to pitch in to raise $500 initially. After getting a a great response, they raise their goal to $5,000, an amount they have almost reached. “I just wanted her to feel loved,” said one student who spearheaded the fundraising drive. “She deserves all the good things.” Partida seems to feel the students have accomplished their mission. “It’s so nice,” she said. “I felt so loved. That makes up for all the pain and sadness.” Partida says she and her husband are staying with her parents until they can find a new home.

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Van Nuys Students Raise Thousands For Teacher Who Lost Home In Woolsey Fire

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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Thief Takes Valuables From Family Evacuated From Woolsey Fire

written by HerbertVarghese

ENCINO (CBSLA) — A family that fled the deadly and destructive Woolsey Fire suffered another blow when a thief broke into their van and stole everything they took with them when they evacuated. The Warren family is just one among thousands of families that had to leave with only their most important and irreplaceable possessions as the Woolsey Fire indiscriminately destroyed hundreds of homes throughout Oak Park, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Malibu and Calabasas. Since the fire broke out last Thursday, the Warrens had been keeping everything they evacuated with – important documents, photos, valuables – in their SUV, which was broken into as they had lunch in Encino on Saturday. Security video on the Encino parking lot shows a white car parked in the lane behind the Warrens’ vehicle as the thief breaks their back window and takes everything. Some of the items turned up in Marina del Rey, where it had been found in a dumpster. “Someone just messaged her and said, hey, I think you might want this. It’s your high school diploma,” Alexa Warren said. The family went to Marina del Rey and found some of their items, like family photos and a stuffed animal Alexa Warren had had since she was a baby, next to a dumpster. Many of the stolen items were recovered, but other valuables – like a laptop and jewelry – are still missing.

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Thief Takes Valuables From Family Evacuated From Woolsey Fire

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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Man’s Parents And In-Laws Lose Homes In Two Separate Counties In Woolsey Fire

written by revalrrn

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Call it a cruel twist of fate or a statistical anomaly, but one family who was brought together by marriage has now been connected by a tragedy caused by the Woolsey Fire. The family experienced the unthinkable Nov. 9, when Mark Bakalor’s parents and in-laws both lost their homes in the Woolsey Fire raging in two separate cities: Bell Canyon and Agoura Hills. “It was almost more surreal, more ‘How could this be happening?’ as opposed to ‘What is happening?’” Bakalor said. On Thursday, Bakalor, his wife and children evacuated their home in Oak Park. Less then 24 hours later, the winds shifted and Mark’s parents in Agoura Hills were in danger. He pleaded with them to leave their custom, 11,000-square foot home. Hours later, his mom called with the news. “She said, ‘It’s gone,’ and I knew what she was talking about, but I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘The house is gone,’” Bakalor said. The Woolsey Fire turned their dream home into a pile of rubble. “It’s not just the home. It’s a lifetime of possessions and things that we had that are now gone.” Just a few hours after Bakalor’s parents lost their home, he was sitting with his father-in-law at his sister-in-law’s house while watching news coverage when he saw the fire turn toward Bell Canyon, where his in-laws lived. “We saw a swimming pool and shapes that looked familiar and flames, and not long after that, their house was also on fire and was burning,” Bakalor said. Mike Garson is a professional pianist, who played with legendary singer, songwriter and actor David Bowie for decades. He and his wife left their home Nov. 9, when it was only under voluntary evacuation and didn’t expect to be out long. “I lost all my pianos, my whole studio, and a lot of music that was on hard drives that I didn’t take that weren’t saved on the Cloud. That’s what’s killing me,” he said. If there was one silver lining to their loss, it’s that they are now all in this together. Two families now brought together by the catastrophic Woolsey Fire. Bakalor’s parents home was on the market for $5 million. One of the selling points was the beautiful canyon views. The family hasn’t decided yet if they will rebuild.

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Man’s Parents And In-Laws Lose Homes In Two Separate Counties In Woolsey Fire

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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California’s Camp Fire Death Toll Jumps To 48 As Thousands Of Firefighters Battle Blazes

written by DeneseMgkv

Officials said Tuesday night the “Camp Fire” in Northern California has scorched some 130,000 acres and is 35 percent contained. In addition, six more human remains were found earlier in the day, bringing the “Camp Fire” death toll to 48. Statewide there are a total of 50 deaths. Some 9,000 firefighters have been battling the wildfires, which have become the deadliest and costliest in state history. Search teams have been using power saws and cadaver dogs to try to locate victims of the “ Camp Fire ” in Northern California. Those who survived were left scrambling to find a place to stay. In Southern California, evacuation orders were lifted for many of the areas affected by the “Woolsey Fire,” but some came home only to be told to leave again. “It’s terrible,” said Alex Goodwin of Hidden Valley. “We evacuated, thought the danger was done, and then of course came back thinking it was safe … and it’s terrifying.” Authorities give evening update on deadly “Camp Fire” 6:05 p.m.: Fire officials monitoring the deadly “Camp Fire” said the blaze has been 35 percent contained, as of Tuesday evening. A total of 130,000 acres have been burned so far. The “Camp Fire” has now been blamed for 48 deaths as of Tuesday night. Remains of six humans were found earlier in the day. Two other deaths in the state bring the total to 50 killed. There are some 5,615 personnel fighting the blaze. Some 52,000 people have been evacuated. A total of 8,817 structures have been destroyed. Of those, 7,600 are homes. There are a total of 1,385 shelters. A National Weather Service meteorologist warned about poor air quality. Weather conditions, however, will become more favorable. Officials have urged residents to use “extreme caution” when they return to property hit by the wildfire. They have warned about trees marked with P1 and P2 — meaning they are hazardous. The Butte County sheriff’s office said there have been 208 suspicious incidents reported. Of those reports, 18 of them were linked to looting. Deputies arrested Monday two men linked to looting a residence within an evacuated area and were in possession of a gun. They were booked into the Butte County jail. Earlier Tuesday, deputies arrested another two men who were found looting and booked into Butte County jail. Also, deputies found a motor home that was previously reported stolen and arrested a 22-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman linked to that crime. An additional 100 National Guard troops have been requested to aid in the wildfire. California wildfires fast facts Firefighters are battling three major wildfires in California. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers as of Tuesday evening, according to Cal Fire and local officials. Camp Fire Location: Butte County 130,000 acres burned 35 percent contained 42 fatalities confirmed, 3 firefighters injured 228 people unaccounted for 8,817 structures destroyed, 7,600 of them homes Woolsey Fire Location: Los Angeles County, Ventura County 96,314 acres burned (roughly the size of Denver) 35 percent contained 2 fatalities confirmed, 3 firefighters injured Some 370 structures destroyed, 57,000 in danger Hill Fire Location: Ventura County 4,531 acres burned 90 percent contained © 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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California’s Camp Fire Death Toll Jumps To 48 As Thousands Of Firefighters Battle Blazes

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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Parts Of Malibu, Calabasas Remain Under Mandatory Evacuation Orders

written by DarellNagel

MALIBU (CBSLA) — Mandatory evacuation orders were partially lifted Tuesday for Malibu residents as fire crews continue to make progress in the Woolsey Fire. The blaze, now burning in Malibu after erupting Thursday in the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks, is 35 percent contained. It has scorched 96,314 acres and destroyed at least 435 structures, damaged two others and still threatens about 57,000. Residents who live between Coastline to Carbon Mesa Rd, and from the ocean to the northern city limits (with some exceptions) will be allowed entry with proper I.D. While some evacuation orders for county communities remained in effect, all mandatory evacuation orders for the City of Los Angeles were lifted as of 7:47 p.m. Monday, authorities said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said they began allowing residents back into Hidden Hills and portions of Calabasas starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In Hidden Hills, neighborhoods west of Valley Circle Blvd., East of Crummer Canyon Road and north of the 101 Freeway will be reopened to residents. In Calabasas, neighborhoods west of Topanga Canyon Blvd., northwest of Mulholland Highway, north of Stunt Road, east of Las Virgenes Road, east of Lost Hills Road (including Lost Springs and Saratoga), and south of the Los Angeles/Ventura County line. Sections of Calabasas may still be without power by the time residents are allowed back in, according to SoCal Edison. Westlake Village neighborhoods along the city limits on the west, from the intersection of Westlake Blvd. and Sycamore Canyon Drive, north to the Ventura County and City of Agoura Hills boundaries will also be reopened, along with neighborhoods along Chesebro Road and Agoura Road from Chesebro to the west. The remainder of Calabasas remained under mandatory evacuation orders, and Malibu City Councilman Skylar Peak has asked people to refrain from attempting to get back into Malibu by boat. A community meeting for Malibu-area evacuees was scheduled for Tuesday night at Santa Monica High School’s Barnum Hall. The continuing danger prompted Los Angeles County officials to re-issue a warning to residents in evacuated areas to stay away until conditions are deemed safe. “Although it may appear that fire threats have passed in some communities, officials warned that the situation remains unstable and can shift dangerously with changes in wind patterns and other unpredictable factors,” the advisory noted. Officials noted there are downed power poles and live power lines, live embers that could reignite, buckled roads, landslides and unstable ground, massive debris, unhealthy air quality, poor visibility and now power or cell phone access. Cal Fire announced Monday night that evacuation orders were lifted for West Hills in Los Angeles and Bell Canyon in Ventura County. RELATED: Evacuations, Road Closures and School Closures IT IS NOT SAFE, we understand everyone wants to return home. #LASD is working with @LACoFDPIO @CountyofLA Public Works & Public Health to evaluate the damaged areas of #WoolseyFire as soon as it is safe we will let everyone know. @LHSLASD Deputy RM pic.twitter.com/L5Mr8okG6c — LA County Sheriff's (@LASDHQ) November 12, 2018 The Woolsey Fire was blamed for the deaths of two people, who were found inside a burned vehicle in a long driveway in the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway. “It’s the feeling of homicide detectives that the driver became disoriented and the vehicle was overwhelmed by the fire,” sheriff’s Chief John Benedict said. Three firefighters have been injured, and Malibu City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner was recuperating at a hospital from conditions related to his unsuccessful efforts to save his home Friday night. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but authorities are exploring the possibility that SoCal Edison equipment may have sparked the blaze . Gusty Santa Ana winds continued to rake the communities hardest hit by the Woolsey Fire. Winds of 25 to 35 mph were forecast to blow Tuesday with gusts of 40 to 45 mph, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Joe Sirard. (© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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Parts Of Malibu, Calabasas Remain Under Mandatory Evacuation Orders

November 14, 2018 0 comment

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Officials: Santa Susana Nuclear Site Safe From Woolsey Fire

written by Florian5996

SIMI VALLEY (CBSLA) — Local, state and federal agencies have inspected the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and found that the nuclear Superfund site was not impacted by the Woolsey Fire. The U.S. Department of Energy, its contractors and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control inspected the site on Sunday, Nov. 11 and determined that Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone was untouched by the fire. View of Area IV and DOE buildings which remain undamaged from fire. (DOE) The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health also performed an assessment of the site and found “no discernible level of radiation in the tested area.” For decades starting in the 1940s, the U.S. government conducted rocket testing, nuclear reactor testing and liquid metal research at Santa Susana. There was a series of nuclear accidents at the site including the worst nuclear meltdown in American history in 1959.

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Officials: Santa Susana Nuclear Site Safe From Woolsey Fire

November 14, 2018 0 comment