Bill is a jazz musician and former nightclub owner who became the instrumental music director at Malibu High School. He retired in 2014 and now does the “Bix Mix” radio show on KBUU-FM (Malibu’s only local radio station). Leslie is a singer/songwriter who has written music for children and recorded CDs, including work with Dick Van Dyke and Chad Smith (drummer for the Red Hot Chile Peppers). Bill and Leslie are both are members of the “Miss Bix & the Blues Fix” band.
“The guitar player in my band texted me at 6:00 am, saying that the fire had jumped the 101 freeway,” Leslie said. “His house was surrounded by flames. I hadn’t heard or seen anything at that point, but then we went outside and saw the cloud of smoke.”
“It was like computer graphics. It didn’t look real,” Bill said. “We’d just gotten back from a trip the night before and were really exhausted. I packed as though we were going to lose the house: our canyon hadn’t burned for 30 to 40 years, and was primed to go. We got the cat into the pet carrier, and then took Les’ three or four guitars and my four really good saxophones – but we lost the Steinway grand piano. We just couldn’t haul that. We lost a lot of electrical/engineering equipment and keyboards, along with art we couldn’t fit. We lost some big pieces and a really beautiful neon sculpture.”
“We had two rental units on our property, and the tenants left really fast – they didn’t take much time to pack,” Leslie noted. “I wish I had told them they needed to pack better. Our guest house burned to the ground but the garden and wooden deck we’d just built survived. Bill had this amazing garden every year and I’d been landscaping, putting in dry river beds, succulents and decomposed granite. It wasn’t quite finished when the fire came through, but a lot of that was saved.
Bill added, “We could see Phos-Chek (fire retardant) being dropped all over by four or five helicopters and a big plane. The jet came so close over our house, it was ridiculous: you could see the rivets. They hit this one spot for about 30 seconds, but it didn’t stop the fire.”
“We finally left around 10:00 am,” Leslie added. “As we were evacuating, this other couple came down the canyon with their cars covered in Phos-Chek. It’s bright pink, and air support dropped it all over their cars by accident.
“I felt the air support was as good as they could do. They didn’t have the Super Scoopers (aircraft that drop water). I will say that, compared to the firefighters on the ground, the air people were amazing – they did some scary things and got right into it. They deserve credit, they really tried.
“My issue with this whole thing is that after the main firestorm moved through the area, firefighters on the ground could’ve come and put out the spot fires. By that point, it was safe to do that – and that’s when we lost so many houses. Most houses burned later, after the initial fire went through. Those homes really could have been saved.”
As they plan to rebuild their home, the Bixlers said, “We have some issues we’re worried about. The fire department stuff in particular is really scary” – noting that required approvals for each of the homes lost in the fire are being withheld until previously-permitted driveways are widened up to 20 feet. “You lose your house, and they can condemn you over a driveway?” Bill asked. “If you end up losing everything over a driveway, that’s when the pitchforks and torches come out.”
“I’m pretty upset with the Fire Department right now,” Leslie said. “After they made a mistake like that, they should have been falling all over themselves to help – not adding new ordinances that are freaking everyone out and taking away their options to rebuild.” Referring to a post-fire town hall meeting with the LA County Fire Chief, Leslie said, “I was one of the screamers. He said the firefighters were definitely engaged in the fire fight, and we screamed ‘No, they weren’t!’”
“In some ways, we see it as an adventure,” Leslie continued. “On the positive side, I de-cluttered. The garage finally got cleaned out – all I had to do was lose my house,” she joked. “It feels overwhelming. I didn’t save any videos of our parents, our wedding, or our child. You just keep thinking of stuff.”
“What’s really weird, the loss that really got to me,” Bill said, “was the teddy bear I’d had for my entire life sitting in a bottom drawer. I guess it was symbolic to me. And all the papers, sheet music, things people give you or make for you; and beautiful giant batiks from the nightclub we owned.”
“I think about the violence and the coldness of the flames: they don’t care,” Leslie said. “It’s such a cold way to lose everything, reduced down to nothing.”
