Mudflows Wash Firefighter into Pacific Ocean in Malibu After Fire, Rain

Mudflows in Malibu washed a firefighter, in his vehicle, from the Pacific Coast Highway and into the ocean on Thursday, as intense rains swept sheets of water over the hillsides and mountains scorched by the Palisades Fire last month.

Torrential rains arrived in Southern California earlier this week — restoring much-needed water supplies to the region, but five weeks too late to prevent the catastrophic spread of the Palisades Fire, which burned 24,000 acres.

Pacific Coast Highway, a major artery connecting Malibu to Los Angeles, was closed as crews used bulldozers to move mud and debris from the roadway.

In the mountains themselves, there was clear evidence of erosion, as sediment-filled water rushed through creeks. Several bridges that had once spanned the narrow Temescal Canyon channel had already been burned by the fire.

Officials fear that larger landslides could still occur in the coming months.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.