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City official evacuated — twice
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Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff Firefighters get ready to fight the Malibu fire near an apartment complex in the 23300 block of Pacific Coast Highway. Five homes were destroyed and others damaged in the fire, which started Sunday morning near Malibu Canyon Road.
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Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff As flames burn on the hillside behind him, Henry Pope comforts his dog Tobey across from his apartment in the 22300 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The fire, which started early Sunday morning, had burned 2,200 acres and was reported 10 percent contained as of late Sunday. Firefighters expect to battle the blaze all week.
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Karl Berger and his family were about to flee the fire burning half a mile from their Castaic home Monday when a sheriff's deputy told them to get out.
They escaped to the Valencia area, driving eight miles south to a business associate's home in Stevenson Ranch. But it would be a short reprieve for the Santa Paula city attorney, his wife and two children.
An hour later, sheriff's deputies were cruising the streets with bullhorns and sirens, telling residents to clear out of that community, too.
The Magic fire was mere blocks away. Berger said he could see the flames from the backyard.
So the lawyer and his wife, educator Rebecca Shepherd, decided to drive about 40 miles south to Manhattan Beach with their 7-year-old daughter, Brianna, and 4-year-old son, Lukas.
"We thought it best to come to the beach and chill out for a while," Berger said.
With the evacuation warnings off, they returned Tuesday afternoon, unsure what damage the fast-moving Ranch fire might have done.
They doubted that their home had burned, figuring that they would have seen the footage on television news reports. Still, it was a relief to see that it had survived.
The ash was blowing and a column of smoke rose nearby, but there was no damage.
"We were quite relieved to see everything was OK and intact," Berger said.
His neighbors were returning Tuesday as well.
"It looks like most people came back this morning or are unpacking in their driveways," he said.
Berger planned to unpack and let the kids take a nap. Today, life would return to the normal routine of school and work.
Still, he's not thinking about moving from the rugged area in northern Los Angeles County.
"The views are too good," he said. "These things do happen, but it makes you once in a while wonder."
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