MARC CHOQUETTE
ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER
Many Malibuites consider themselves lucky after the Malibu Canyon Fire, with longtime residents and local media saying that, despite some scattered damage, much of the town dodged a bullet.
Aside from the Presbyterian Church and Malibu Glass and Mirror, little in the way of commercial structure damage could be seen around town, at least to the untrained eye.
One of the hardest hit places with little visible damage were stores in the Malibu Colony Plaza, many of which are reeling from a week of closed doors and slow business since re-opening.
With the Colony sitting below the fire-ravaged Malibu Canyon, it was not long before embers started blowing toward the shopping center. While damage is scattered, spot fires wreaked havoc on the center.
The most visible of damage was the destroyed clock tower above the First Bank branch along with the wooden and tile overhangs around the entire complex.
While much of the damage to the complex was deemed structural, a few businesses were hit especially hard.
Becker’s Surf & Skate suffered substantial smoke damage, which forced the store to close for a week while clothes were cleaned and the carpet was ripped out. The store re-opened to business Oct. 30, but sales have been slow.
Store manager Ryan Shaver pointed out how close the spot fires got to the back door and expressed relief that it was not worse.
Shaver said the store’s biggest hit aside from closing for a week was Internet sales, which have been difficult since much of the inventory smelled of smoke. The system used ties in all of the Becker stores, so problems at the Malibu store affected the entire network.
Malibu Yogurt was a lot closer to the heaviest damage but was still practically untouched. While a five-day closure for the First Bank clock tower to be dismantled hit the business hard, manager Diana Nielsen is not too worried, noting it was a slow time of the year anyway.
Nielsen pointed out the fact that having tile on the floor and bordering the walls prevented the threat of smoke or water damage, which is what plagued most other stores.
Starbucks, which sits on the other side of First Bank, suffered water damage from the extinguishing of the clock tower blaze, and remains closed while workers repair the interior.
CVS, which would not talk to the Graphic, remains open for business despite a massive effort to reconstruct its façade and parts of the roof, which were damaged by wind-driven flames.
But the hardest hit of establishments in the Colony was the First Bank branch, which became instantly famous as news choppers hovered around the burning clock tower that Sunday.
Assistant Vice President and branch Manager Houri Kharazi said she watched the same scene on TV in horror at her Malibu home — until her cable service went out around 3 p.m.
Two hours later she received a call from the fire captain, who told her the building would be red tagged due to extensive smoke and water damage.
The tag was changed to yellow as of Oct. 26, but Kharazi said it would be six weeks before the branch was completely back to normal.
In the meantime, Kharazi and Financial Service Representative Michael Swanson have been running the branch from a card table set up in the courtyard next to Starbucks. Since the Wednesday following the fire, when roads were reopened, they have been taking checking deposits from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
For customers, fees for using other ATM’s (their ATM was “waterlogged”) have been waived until Nov. 30.
The branch reopened Monday, but Kharazi notes they will be sharing the space with construction workers who are restoring it to its pre-fire condition.
But aside from blackened landscaping, singed palm trees and light structural damage, most owners consider themselves lucky for escaping yet another Malibu fire.
Despite varying levels of damage, all owners shared the same sentiment: they want to get the word out that they are back in business.
11-08-2007
