In the hills above Malibu City Hall, Bruce Silverstein was at home Monday night when he smelled smoke in the air.
It was eleven o’clock at night, and a member of the City Council and his wife then received a warning about a wind-driven fire that would roar through the hills of Malibu, causing many people to evacuate.
The sky at the top of their walkway grew a bright shade of red.
By 11:20 p.m., the flames of the Franklin fire were licking up the hill, and the couple had already packed their bags and fled. They had traveled five miles on the Pacific Coast Highway toward Santa Monica when the mandatory evacuation alert was issued. The couple persisted.
In a hotel room in Santa Monica, Silverstein alternated between watching TV news and Ring cameras standing near his home as the fire surrounded his property throughout the night.
“This is surreal,” Silverstein said in a morning interview. “My wife just said that there is a drop of water in our house.
The grass and trees around the home were “just on fire,” he said.
“We’re seeing real flames,” Silverstein said. Earlier in the night, the forest and fences were on fire, which was seen in the video, but the fire brigade came and destroyed the area.
“We thought it was completely under control,” Silverstein said. “For a while it looks like we’re in the clear. Then we saw a fire burning in the distance, and a lot of coals came flying in the yard.”
After three hours of remote viewing, one camera was fried. Silverstein said he was recording the fire while it was going on, watching it with his children, and talking to them via Zoom. One of his children described looking away as courage.
“We’re brave,” Silverstein muttered. “Where can I choose?”
He said that this period is accompanied by a feeling of helplessness regarding his home as well as his neighbors and their community.
“I think I’m still in shock right now,” Silverstein said.
He didn’t know what the night would bring. And even though he’s a member of the City Council, he said he has little power in emergencies like this, adding, “It’s completely in the hands of the professionals.”
He said if they were lucky, he and his wife would have to deal with a lot of smoke damage.
“I hope my house will survive, and I hope everyone will too,” she said. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
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