New Podcast ‘Sandcastles’ Looks at How a Group of Surfers Helped Save Malibu from Wildfire
In 2018, the Woolsey Fire burned nearly 97,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. It was one of the most destructive fires in Southern California history. Among the stories that emerged from the fire was one that seemed made for Hollywood: a group of Malibu surfers stayed behind, ignoring evacuation orders, and helped save their town from the flames.
This group of childhood friends called themselves the Point Dume Bombers, after an infamous crew from the seventies that surfed at Point Dume Beach. The ethos of the Bombers back in the day was simple, but tough: nobody’s coming to help, so you better learn how to survive. This tight knit community looked out for one another — unless you were an outsider who tried to surf the local waves. Then, things might get violent.
It turns out, this culture of aggressive self-reliance may be the thing that actually helped Malibu survive the Woolsey Fire. In the new podcast Sandcastles, host and producer Adriana Cargill explores the good and bad of the Point Dume Bombers to see what we can learn from them about living safely in wildfire country. Hear more at https://www.wavemakermedia.org/
The Redwood Trees Are Struggling
There were many things Julie Menter loved about her Oakland home when she first moved there in 2017. Chief among them were the three towering redwood trees in her backyard, which Menter estimated had been there longer than the house itself.
Last year, one of the trees started to look sick. It had lost almost all of its leaves and, despite Menter watering it, it wasn’t bouncing back. She’s noticed all over the Bay Area redwood trees are looking dry and scraggly. Our friends at the Bay Curious podcast went to find out what’s going on with the iconic coast redwoods.