As Malibu remains on high alert more than 9 months after the deadly Palisades Fire, the city is clamping down on fire threats, including homeless encampments, especially when moisture levels drop and Santa Ana winds kick up during the traditional fire season between October and December.
The latest emergency order went into effect at the end of September, giving city officials the authority to temporarily move homeless people out of the jurisdiction.
The city enacted the policy in 2021 to allow city officials to declare a local emergency and take extra steps to tackle fire hazards when fire conditions worsen, including stepping up enforcement of homeless encampments.
“(The emergency order) enables us to move a little faster because of the urgency,” Malibu’s Public Safety Director Susan Duenas said. “We can’t wait three days, five days, if we’re having Santa Ana winds, red flag weather.”
Legacy Park, across the street from Malibu City Hall, had benches full of items belonging to people experiencing homelessness.
Duenas said the items left behind by the unhoused are typically cleared out every night.
The city also insists that it’s not the behavior that officials are targeting. Rather, Maliibu is focusing on homelessness. Since the latest local emergency was declared on Sep. 29, if people were found camping on the street, city officials will alert them and find temporary housing.
“We would contact (homeless people) and let them know the fire danger is very high, and because of that, we cannot have any encampments in the brush area,” Duenas explained. “We provide them with alternatives. We have access to housing. Last year, we got 72 people into temporary and permanent housing.”
If people do not cooperate and leave, the city calls for law enforcement to step in. Having a law enforcement intervention could mean a misdemeanor with a citation but it could also be a felony, Duenas said.
In 2021, the city of Malibu saw 21 fires that started in homeless encampments. And in the last six weeks, there were two minor cooking fires in the city, data showed.
The findings that the Palisades Fire may have been started by a smaller fire that smoldered underground for a week has only heightened concerns in a community that has been devastated by multiple fires.
“Our communities are traumatized by fire, and it is an incredibly sensitive issue,” Mayor Marianne Riggins said. “It’s something that we as the city of Malibu absolutely need to be proactive to make sure that we’re taking steps to protect the residents and really anybody who is in our community.”
The city’s policy allows the emergency to stay in place until specific criteria is met, including 2 inches of rainfall, and no red flag warnings predicted. The city doesn’t predict the conditions will change until after the holidays.