Sandy Fire Not Growing Towards Civilization, But It Might Burn Into Hazmat Area – Heavy Tankers Dropping Retardant On Santa Rosa Island Fire – Agoura Hills Traffic Expert Says Malibu Traffic Should Take 5 Mile Detour On Twisting Mulholland To Reach Safety During Fire (No, Really!)
Written by 991KBU on May 20, 2026
Sandy Fire Not Growing Towards Civilization, But It Might Burn Into Hazmat Area
Cooler moisture weather brought in by the marine layer has helped firefighters battling the Sandy fire … still burning on the southern side of Simi Valley.
The Sandy fire has burned 17 hundred acres as of last night.
But most of that burned two days ago … the. Fire increased in size by only about 300 acres yesterday.
The smoke plume is easily visible from the northern parts of the mountains above Malibu.
Yesterday there were rumors in Agoura Hills that backfires had been started just north of the 101 freeway… but those turned out to be unfounded.
Ventura County firefighters did evacuate some additional subdivisions in Simi Valley … about 2 miles east of the regular library last night.
But structure protection has saved all but the one house that burned Monday… When the fire broke out.
Today … crews will be working to keep the fire from spreading to the east … into the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.
That area is of special concern … because of old unspent rocket fuel on the ground where NASA and private contractors tested rocket engines during the Apollo program and before.
There’s also radioactive residue on the ground from a botched federal; atomic energy program back in 1959.
During the Woolsey Fire.. Which burn through the Santa Susanna field lab … radioactive waste was launched into the air … as well as other bad chemicals.
This morning … firefighters are in protective positions at the hazmat site.
Also … near Santa Susanna Pass … in Box Canyon … in Woolsey Canyon and ell Canyon … and Woolsey Canyon … near Chatsworth.
Advisory evacigtaion warning remain up for the northern parts of Westlake Village … Agoura Hills … and Calabasas.
The westernmost edge of the San Fernando Valley … from Bell Canyon to the 118 Freeway … has also been placed on alert.
But the fire has not significantly spread towards the 101 or the San Fernando Valley.
The first indications are that a tractor being used for brush clearance, hit a rock and caused a spark … which was fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds into a brushfire.
Heavy Tankers Dropping Retardant On Santa Rosa Island Fire
A modified Boeing 737 jet made several fire retardant drops on key installations on Santa Rosa Island … which is on fire.
The island is 70 miles west of Point Dume … a part of the Channel Island National Monument.
The fire that has been burning there has been sending copious amounts of smoke and haze into Malibu and the LA basin.
The 737 jet was one of several aircraft that dumped fire retardant on the Main Ranch complex and park housing on the island.
Choppers sucked up saltwater and dropped it on the tip of the island … as flames crossed the Main Road there.
This helped cool the fire’s edge and slow its spread.
The South Point Lighthouse has been saved.
Almost one third of the 53 thousand acre island has burned.
Containment of the Santa Rosa Island fire has grown to 26% yesterday.
A break in gusty winds that allowed for air operations helped to limit the fire’s spread.
It’s Going To Be A Fiery Summer, CalFire Chief Thinks
California is entering summer with fire danger already running higher than usual.
The chief of Cal Fire predicts … as a certainty … that we will have an increased level of activity this year.
Big storms soaked the state in late December, early January and mid-February.
But they were followed by a record dry and hot March
“The grass is cured in the Central Valley and Southern California … and that fine fuel is ready for ignition by sparks and embers” says says Calfire chief Joe Tyler.
Statewide, 32,054 acres have burned since Jan. 1 … on lands overseen by Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. That’s roughly 50% higher than the average over the past five years.
Agoura Hills Fire Plan: Malibu Should Detour Around Kanan Traffic Jam Using Troutdale, 5 Miles Of Twisty Mulholland, and Then Merge Into Other Fire Traffic On Malibu Canyon Road … Really!
Officials in Agoura Hills are pledging to work with Malibu and other cities in the area on a regional fire evacuation plan.
This comes after the city council in Agoura Hills approved a controversial change in the city’s general plan … the section that handles emergencies.
Some residents in the Cornell and Malibu Lakes area have blasted this element of the general plan… for dramatically underestimating traffic loads on Kanan Road at the 101 freeway.
At the city council meeting last week … an Agoura Hills traffic planner said the number of cars heading up Kanan Road to the 101 Freeway can be handled at the interchange.
But … if Kanan jams at the 101 … traffic from Malibu can always cut over on Mulholland Highway … and proceed to Las Virgenes Road.
This is what the traffic engineer actually said:
USE MULHOLLAND 72014
“For the fire coming from the north, the most critical community that would evacuate into the city is the option just south of the city as well as further south of the city.“And for a fire south of the city, it is analyzed that the portion of the community near the city would evacuate in .. and other households would need to use other routes, including along Mulholland to Las Virgenes.”
Let’s follow that path, recommended by the Agoura Hills traffic engineer.
Vehicles fleeing Malibu during a fire should:
- go up Kanan Road until they hit the traffic jam.
- circle back to Troutdale, go south a half mile, then go east on Mulholland.
- proceed 5 miles on twisty … curvy … mountainous Mulholland … over to Las Virgenes.
- then … blend in to the traffic coming up Malibu Canyon.
Total … 8 miles …
Not one member of the Agoura Hills city council questioned that.
Instead … city council member Deborah Klein Lopez lectured the people worried about emergency access … told them, that the general plan emergency element is not a blueprint for growth.
DEB K LOPEZ NO PROBLEM 72013
“It’s not a housing plan.“It’s not an evacuation plan.“It’s not even a likely scenario because it assumes a full build-out of projects that would take decades to put into place.“So it’s conservative on so many levels. It’s not the scenario we face today.”
Part of the problem with the Agoura Hills safety element is that it assumes only 100 cars per hour fleeing up Kanan from the mountains region during a fire.
And no cars at all coming from the city of Malibu.
But Agoura Hills Mayor Jeremy Klein says … the safety element is not a plan .. it is just a framework.
AGOURA MAYOR JEREMY KLEIN 72012
“This is a starting places.“This does not greenlight anything.“Anything is how we can plan for our future.“I will facilitate and work on a coordinated effort with different counties from unincorporated county, from Malibu, from Oak Park and come up with regional strategies.”
Anti growth advocates in Agoura Hills have been using the safety element as a political weapon against the current city council.
And they point to the ugly and half-finished apartment building along the 101 freeway near Kanan Road as an example of what is wrong over there.
Topanga Work At Grandview Means One Lane Traffic Control
Caltrans officials plan some construction in Topanga Canyon that will mean one way traffic control today and tomorrow.
Maintenance work will be done on Topanga Canyon Boulevard at the southern end of the village… at the Grandview turn off.
You can expect one lane traffic control on TC Boulevard at Grandview from 9 to 3 today … and tomorrow.
Caltrans Reveals Details On PCH Rehab: $154 Million
Meanwhile … Caltrans officials say they are finishing final plans for a major repaving project on PCH from Santa Monica through Malibu to the Ventura County line.
And they have released the price tag.
The entire roadway will be repaved … and in some cases … realigned slightly.
Pavement grinding.
Asphalt laying.
Some new sidewalks, upgraded pedestrian crossings and improved lighting.
Detours and overnight work.
Total cost 154 million dollars.
This is the project that will add striped bike lanes to most of the highway.
Construction for the western segment … between Cross Creek Road and Leo Carrillo Beach … its going to start this fall.
By Christmas … the eastern segment from Cross Creek to the Santa Monica Tunnel will be under construction.
Anticipated completion is at the end of 2030.
he total programmed project cost for both projects is about $154 million dollars.
That’s $69 million for the western segment … and $85 million for the eastern section.
And that does not include landslide and ocean erosion projects now underway in the fire area.
And that also does not include the many changes proposed in the Caltrqns Master. Plan .. the overall PCH improvement project list that is still under review at Caltrans.
That is the one with proposals for major changes to the roadway layout … still not approved by the city council.
The 154 million dollars is for pavement rehabilitation … projects that are designed to enhance the service life of the highway and maintain the current infrastructure.
This will be the first major repaving of PCH since 2010.
Woman Describes The Indescribable Loss Of Her Two Boys
The woman who lost two little boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk took the witness stand yesterday in a Van Nuys courtroom.
Nancvy Iskander .. her husband … and her surviving children are suing Rebecca Grossman and Scott Ericson …
They are the ione-time lovers who were racing their high performance sports cars on Triunfo Canyon Road in 2020.
They plowed into three children and their mother in a Westlake Village crosswalk.
Nancy Iskander granted one son and pulled him back … but she lost her Mark and Jacob.
Her life … she tells the jury … has ended.
Her professional career. … has ended.ISKANDER FORGET 72015“No, I can’t. I can’t forget.“No parent wants to forget their kids.“Karim (her husband) finds comfort when … when I find him when he leaves and he goes to sleep in Jacob’s bed and sleep on Jacob’s pillow.ATTORNEY BRAD PANASH: “You mentioned earlier that you liked being a professional working mother .“Are you bale toy that now?NANCY ISKANDER: “No, I don’t enjoy it anymore because I think of the minutes we are losing by not being together … you never know.“Something might happen at any minute … any given time.“So … it’s not the same anymore.”
Isaknder said there boys bedrooms are untouched six years after their deaths.
ISKANDER ALL I HAVE 72014“The worst thing is the memories … going back … because I am thinking about the same things over and over again … because that’s all I have.”
Nancy Iskander and her husband are suing Rebecca Grossman… Her husband and her former lover Scott Erickson.
They have not yet told the public or the jury what they are seeking… But their lawyer says it may be in the tens of millions of dollars.
Rebecca Grossman’s husband… a prominent San Fernando Valley burn surgeon… has been caught trying to hide the family’s financial assets.
Preschool Coming To Las Flores Canyon
The private school up Las Flores Canyon … burned out by the fire last year … has reopened as a preschool.
It’s now Under the Oaks Early Childhood Center in Las Flores Canyon.
There was a ribbon cutting this week for the school … which has been operating in Las Flores Canyon in one or another since 1965.
Under the Oaks Early Childhood Center in Malibu was forced to close for months while crews completed extensive repairs and smoke remediation.
The family-operated school — a longtime part of the Malibu community since 1965 — underwent major restoration work, including repairs to the playground, sewer system, ceilings and interior spaces damaged by smoke and fire impacts.
Mommy and Me classes have already started on Tuesdays.
Now, after months of recovery and rebuilding, Under the Oaks is preparing for its full preschool reopening in June.
