Amid CA Wildfires, Residents Use Own Methods, Form Fire Brigade
San Francisco Chronicle
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Jan. 9—Topanga — Jonathan Wood saw the Instagram post Thursday and jumped onto his dirt bike to head into Topanga. Talk to Derek, he was told when volunteering to join the renegade fire brigade.
The gang would help with structure protection in the small artist and musician community of about 8,000 residents who have felt abandoned during the Southern California firestorm that began Tuesday. Nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains in Topanga Canyon, Topanga is flanked by Malibu on one side and Pacific Palisades on the other — two ultra-wealthy places that have lost countless properties to the raging Palisades Fire.
As buildings in those neighboring communities burned with no firefighters in sight, the group calling themselves the Topanga Heat Hawks swiftly took action: The ragtag group of artists and musicians in the wooded valley created their own fire brigade. While others evacuated, these friends and neighbors stayed to fight despite the mandatory evacuation orders.
On Thursday afternoon, with a chainsaw and shovel attached to the front fork of his dirt bike in Mad Max fashion, Wood and two of his friends raced down a hill to wet down a home construction site.
"We're staying out of the way of the professionals," said Wood, who has been in Topanga for a year, building two properties. "We're cutting anything that's needed, spraying water."
Fire officials have repeatedly warned the public against staying back to protect properties, saying that such actions put lives at risk and could result in firefighting resources being diverted from extinguishing the blaze to rescuing people.
On Thursday, Cal Fire and other fire agencies worked around the volunteers, preparing hose lines and monitoring fire activity in the steep valley. Cody "Toad" Webb, one of the organizers, said they limited volunteers to make sure there was ample parking and clear roads.
On a text thread titled "Astral Zealots," residents began organizing fire protection in their community when they felt that fire equipment and attention was heading elsewhere during the series of massive blazes.
"The fire has been crazy," said Webb, as he stood outside the town's library and adhoc Heat Hawk's headquarters. He bartends at Endless Color just down Topanga Canyon Boulevard, the main road that provides the community's two exits east and west. "There's not been enough support. Mostly because the winds have been so crazy."
The Palisades Fire has been butting right up against the town and snatching homes on the perimeter, Webb said.
Webb initially evacuated Tuesday to his family's home in Calabasas and was bowling when he started to get text messages from residents warning of the severity of the fire and asking for help. He packed his bags again and returned home.
"Everyone was like, 'Why are you going back? '" Webb recalled. "The only real answer is this community is not like others ... and they needed boots on the ground."
On Wednesday, Derek Mabra, a longtime resident, posted on his Instagram page asking for help.
"A secondary volunteer fire patrol and defense action brigade has been formed in topanga. If you have experience doing landscaping, cutting wood, shoveling, dirt, watering gardens, and or forest fires, send me a direct message or text me."
He left his number. He got inundated with residents eager to pitch in. All asking for Derek.
At the library, residents collected fire extinguishers, shovels, hoses, walkie talkies, food and water. They kept a database of who had swimming pools in case that water was needed. They used the library's wifi to organize.
A white board dictated the rules of the brigade. Stay upwind of the fire, keep away from flames, avoid inhaling smoke and don't put yourself at risk. Someone spray painted "Supply Drop Heat Hawks" in red on a canvas sign draped over a boulder.
"This is a thing that just came together. We didn't plan it before," Webb said. "The vibe's been to get kids and pets out and to get back up to help."
Wearing a leather vest and red Vans canvas sneakers, the 28-year-old spoke to a reporter as the street buzzed with activity.
"We're running on nicotine and caffeine," he said, popping a Zyn pouch into his upper lip. "We're a bunch of artists and musicians posing as firefighters."
A helicopter circled above, dropping water onto flames in the canyon. At one point, a structure went up in flames, sending dark smoke billowing on the ridge above the library.
Webb described how on Wednesday it took eight hours for Topanga to get an aerial tanker, compared to just 40 minutes at the Hollywood Hills fire.
"If Quentin Tarantino's house burns down it's more important than if a bunch of hippies lose their homes," he said.
Earlier in the day, a neighbor vacationing in Costa Rica asked Webb to pull documents from their house. He broke their glass window as he felt the heat of the fire against his back. He tried to save cats for another neighbor.
"In this canyon, there's a lot of music, art, weirdness and dance parties in the mountains," Webb said, as he pointed out volunteers who had their own bands. " Topanga Canyon is like Laurel Canyon in the '70s."
That connection brought everyone back, he said.
As a woman grabbed Webb to ask questions about donations, a resident in glasses walked up, looked down at the "Heat Hawks" spray-painted sign and asked no one in particular: "I'm looking for somebody named Derek."
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