Toll of Firestorms Still Felt After Year of Healing

It was one year ago today that the first of 17 firestorms swept through Southern California’s bone-dry forests and foothills.

Adding to the frightening specter of the rampaging flames was the fact that the worst of the blazes--in Malibu and Laguna--were ignited by arsonists. In all, the flames claimed three lives, more than 200,000 acres and caused untold millions of dollars in damage.

Underlying those numbing statistics are hundreds of stories of adversity and resiliency.

There is the story of Tony Duquette, who watched a lifetime’s worth of art treasures perish in the flames that engulfed his Thousand Oaks ranch. And Ron Mass, who was caught in a wall of flames while fleeing his Topanga Canyon home and has spent the last year undergoing painful treatment.

There are upbeat tales as well, such as that of Laguna Beach residents Lynn and Michael Lindsey, who are struggling, along with their neighbors, to reinvent the funk of their fire-besieged, artistic enclave of Canyon Acres. Or O. P. and Rosemary Reed, who have watched with hope and sorrow as the walls of their Malibu home rise from the ashes.

One thing weaves each of these stories together: a singular will to survive in the face of terrifying loss. Please see A18-A19.