Recent wildfires in Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains have made way for non-native plant growth, setting the stage for increasingly frequent blazes.
A red glow illuminated the valley behind the Brunel family's Malibu home around 11 p.m. Monday. The fierce Santa Ana winds blowing dry desert air over the mountains and out to sea had already triggered public safety power shutoffs. The family, whose previous home was destroyed by the 2018 Woolsey fire, knew it was a bad sign. They started packing and turned on their water sprinklers. By 1 a.m.
” The frequency of fires rose from once every 30 to 130 years to roughly once every eight years in Malibu Canyon. Lightning went from causing virtually 100% of wildfires to fewer than 5%. The coast live oaks, one of the most effective lines of natural fire defense in the mountains, started struggling too. Fires charred their bark, droughts forced them to ration water, and invasive beetles — some brought to Southern California via firewood — bored into them.
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