Lisa Nugent is a designer for the Human Centered Design (HCD) group at Amgen, a major biotechnology company. After buying her very first home in 2013, Lisa’s mother (Lois) moved in two years later.
“I bought the house from Jay Griffith, a well-known landscape architect, six years ago. It had incredible landscape design. I was born in LA but have also lived in La Jolla and Newport Beach, and Malibu reminded me so much of old La Jolla. I think we had a pretty idyllic time in Malibu enjoying the sunsets and sitting outside with a glass of wine, looking at the water and the islands.
“I work in Thousand Oaks, and when I drove home from work the night before the fire, I knew there was a potential for it to cross the 101. I listened to KBUU (Malibu’s only radio station) all night. I packed and went through photos. I had the false assumption that the fire department would come: the year before, there was a small fire half a mile from us and they were there in no time. I thought they were so efficient.”
After evacuating the day of the fire, Lois and her mother headed north on PCH because southbound was jammed. They were one of the last cars allowed to head up the coast before the Sheriffs decided to block the road.
“It was a little scary, because it was almost like night because of the smoke – it was really dark. Once we got to Ventura, we drove around the mountains to get to a Santa Monica hotel. It only took us two hours to get to Santa Monica going that roundabout way, three hours faster than the people who evacuated by heading south.
“My neighbors stayed behind and fought the fire. They have video of my house burning with fire trucks parked right in front of it, and all of the firefighters just watching it burn. They did nothing to stop it. I haven’t been able to watch that video yet.”
Searching through the rubble after the fire, a friend found a display case with shelves of vases that had not broken or burned, but the vases were distressed from the fire. They’re now on display in the kitchen of Lisa’s rental house in the Pacific Palisades, and they look like finds from an archeological dig. Outside in the garage, she has a large wooden platform displaying other finds from the rubble (nearly all of them ceramic); she also placed charred metal patio furniture in the yard.
“We are rebuilding and hope to get back on the property by January 2020, by living in an ADU (accessory dwelling unit). That way, we can be there to see our new house being built. I met with the City biologist yesterday about restoring the [vegetation on] the property. We lost 125 trees, but many of the California Sycamores are actually coming back. It’s amazing how some plants, after the fire, are coming to life! It’s nice to see. We also see little “pups” being produced by the agave plants, and we’re saving those to re-plant.”
