Three fire-recovery events scheduled over next 10 days
A landscaping lecture, a Fire Safe Festival in Malibu Canyon and the PaliBu Recovery Expo are all set for the coming days.
Three public events are coming up over the next week and a half, aimed at helping people understand what to do after the big fires.
One week from tonight, an expert on maintaining fire-resistant landscaping will speak on "Regenerative Landscaping." Douglas Kent is the author of Firescaping: Protecting Your Home With a Fire-Resistant Landscape. He believes that strengthening our connections to land improves resilience for people, plants and animals. He will talk about overcoming some of the barriers to active stewardship and care of plants near houses.
On Saturday, May 16, there are two separate events just a few miles apart on Malibu Canyon Road.
The Fire Safe Festival will be offered at the L.A. County tree nursery in Malibu Canyon. The Malibu Forestry Unit will be giving away free seedlings for people to transplant into their yards, and will show what fire-safe landscaping can look like. The event is sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Fire Safe Council. It's aimed at kids as well, with an evacuation board game and student art contest featured. The festival runs Saturday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Malibu Forestry Unit. Parking will be at Tapia Park, about a half mile north of the tunnel on Malibu Canyon Road.
That afternoon, the Malibu–Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce is hosting the PaliBu Recovery Expo — a community-centered expo focused on rebuilding, recovery and community connection across Malibu, Pacific Palisades and surrounding fire-impacted areas. Homeowners, renters, business owners and building professionals are invited to connect with architects, contractors and rebuild experts. There will be access to business recovery resources and support, and people can speak directly with city, county and state agencies. The expo starts at noon on Saturday, May 16, at the Ioki ballfields site — the big vacant lot where the chili cookoff has been held.
The landscaping exhibits run up the canyon from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the recovery expo is down the canyon from noon to 4 p.m.