Wild fires swept across Southern California in November 2018 burning nearly 100,000 acres and causing unscalable devastation. Living in California, we do our best to plan for these kinds of things and generally speaking we’ve grown to expect a big fire from time to time. We know that we live in a fire state and most of us have some kind of evacuation plan, even if its just in the back of our minds – a grab your laptop and passport type of thing.

 

The Woolsey Fire – November 9, 2018

In the months before the fire you could see the drying hillsides as you drove down the streets and highways. They were golden brown and just a matchstick away from burning up. On this particular day, the day the Woolsey Fire started, we were experiencing 40-60 mph winds and the air was hot and dry.

 

The Woolsey Fire started in the hills of Simi Valley near the Santa Susana pass and quickly spread into the Conejo Valley. Oak Park was hit first, followed by Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, parts of Thousand Oaks and eventually Calabasas and Malibu. The fires continued to burn at 0% containment for a number of days keeping the community on its toes.

 

This wasn’t Conejo Valley’s first fire, the surrounding mountains burned back in 2005. That was a big fire too, memorable to say the least but no homes were lost that year. There was little to no damage really and no evacuations – at least that I can remember. We knew this day would come again and assumed things would be the same.

 

We were wrong. The years of drought and unusual winds were working together to form a rare and perfect storm for a hungry fire.

 

This time around more than half of the Conejo Valley was evacuated on the first night. Some of us camped out at a nearby family members house, others made their way to the handful of evacuation centers, and every hotel within a 30 mile radius was booked solid.

 

I live in Oak Park and evacuated to Moorpark (a few towns over). I sympathize with my fellow neighbors and my Conejo Valley community knowing that we all watched the news thinking our homes weren’t going to be there in the morning.

 

The fires from an aerial view looked like a warzone. The winds seemed to be getting stronger rather than dying down for the night and they were blowing red hot embers in all directions – it was as if a new fire was popping up on every hillside. And from what they were telling us, there wasn’t much they could do to fight them.

 

The Next Morning

I will tell you I woke up that morning expecting to be homeless. But as we turned the news back on we learned that most of the Conejo Valley was spared by the fires. The hills were charred, yes. And a number of homes were lost, but what could have been and was expected to be thousands, was estimated to be 30-40 homes in the Conejo Valley.

 

Hearing and seeing this news made me both saddened and somewhat relieved. Saddened for those who lost everything, but grateful for the little amount of damage there actually was relative to the size of the fire.

 

Assessing the Damage

Rumors were flying. We heard schools had burned down, churches, parks, recreation centers, and even a fire station. Between the bit of curiosity and overall concern for our community, we got in the car and drove around some of the areas.

 

As we made our way through parts Oak Park and Westlake Village, we noticed how random the damage was. We expected to see a wipeout of homes along the hillside but minus a few exceptions, most survived. Oddly enough, homes that were 3-4 in from the hills didn’t. Rarely did the fire consume two homes consecutively – a miracle considering the winds.

 

A big credit and thank you to the emergency crews as they kept an eye on our community – they did a phenomenal job saving so many of our homes.

 

The Damage

Continuing our drive we could see most of the burning was confined to the surrounding hills and mountains. The rest of the Conejo Valley fared well considering how much wind we had and dry brush to fuel the fire.

 

Majority of the fire damage was to Oak Park, North Ranch, and one section of Westlake Village by the lake. The section of Agoura Hills that’s in the canyon sustained some losses, but the main areas of Agoura Hills did well with only a few homes lost.

 

The Take-Home

We learned a lot in the days of the fire. A lot about ourselves and a lot about our community and the way it so tirelessly and effortlessly came together.

 

The Bullet Points

• Our emergency services are the best in the business. They worked with little down time while risking their lives for others. For that we are forever grateful.
• Our local sheriffs kept our neighborhoods safe. Sheriff and police cars were positioned all throughout neighborhoods to scare off any possible looters while we were evacuated while also keeping an eye out for flare ups.
• Brush clearing works. So many of our homes were spared because the fire ran out of fuel to burn. I wouldn’t be surprised if brush clearing will extend further from structures either by law or desire.
• We have a tight knit community. People opened their homes for evacuees to stay and local businesses gave free food to first responders. These are just two of the countless stories of people helping others get out safely, or even protect their neighbors homes.

 

In conclusion, I’ll be staying in the Conejo Valley and you should too.

This fire has been a great example of all the things we love about the Conejo Valley. We stick together and keep the community strong. Woolsey was a once in a lifetime fire and we are happy to report we came out strong. Maybe with a little bit of luck, but mostly with a strong group of people – plus, in my opinion, the views are worth the risk 🙂