When King Harbor liveaboards Bob and Jody Lipkin moved to Berry Creek, they liked to joke that they almost made it to Paradise.
Manhattan Beach firefighters at the Malibu Canyon Road tunnel, in a successful fight, to prevent the Woolsey fire from jumping into Topanga Canyon. Photo by Firefighter/Engineer James Stratton It started with a robocall from the electrical company. They might cut off electric service due to the Red Flag warnings. Being a beach bum for over 40 years, I was not really clear as to what made up a Red Flag warning, but the local news explained it. A combination of low humidity, high winds and a lot of “fuel” made for perfect conditions for a firestorm. During the 35 years, my wife Jody and I lived on a boat in King Harbor, forest fires never entered our minds. Now we live in Berry Creek. We like to joke that we almost made it to Paradise. The town of Paradise is 10 miles away. A few hours after the robocall I got a call from a neighbor down the road. “Is that fire near you?” she asked. “What fire” I replied, walking through my sliding glass door to the back porch. My neighbor was about 10 miles south of me, on the other side of Lake Oroville. “It looks like it’s right behind you,” she said. “It looks pretty big.” I walked back through the house to the front door and looked to the…
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