Spot fires burn on the hills above Pepperdine University during the Woolsey fire (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
2018 is the most deadly year for wildfires in California history. The combination of the Woolsey and Camp fires have wreaked devastation across the state, as the struggle to contain the fires and the search for remains of those who perished continues.
As the slow process of trying to rebuild begins, there are some truly remarkable stories coming out of the tragedy. Pepperdine Law School, located in Malibu, CA, was in the path of the Woolsey fire. But somehow the campus remained unscathed. As law school dean Paul Caron told Law.com:
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It’s remarkable when you see the pictures. Pepperdine was surrounded by fire on three sides. The university and the LA Fire Department have for over 20 years had these plans to shelter in place. The university was built with fire potential in mind. There’s a 200–yard circumference around the university that’s a buffer zone. It’s clear and open grass. That helps to slow down the flames. It gives the firefighters a chance to establish a perimeter around campus. All of that worked, to everyone’s amazement. My house is at the far northwestern-most point of campus. The fire was within five feet of my house.
The fire department has this plan of what they can allow to burn on campus. There’s a big hill that the law school sits atop. The fire was allowed to burn all the way up the hill until right before it got to the law school. So the campus is this surreal area of burned-out areas all around. But we didn’t lose any permanent buildings. There are a lot of spectacular, brave firefighters.
But just because the campus wound up surviving the fire, it doesn’t mean there weren’t some terrifying moments. Caron describes taking shelter at the University’s basketball gym, with his wife, dog, and hundreds of others, worrying that they could die at the school:
It was incredibly frightening. I think we were all comforted by the fact that this plan had been developed and worked on over 20 years, but you’re always wondering: “Is this one different? Is it so big and horrible that it will overwhelm the defenses?” There was a lot of worry. My wife and I were talking about that we could die here tonight.
Fortunately, no one at the law school lost their life in the fires, but ~70 faculty homes were lost, and figures on students who were left homeless by the blaze are still being calculated. While the law school community at Pepperdine is still dealing with the aftermath, the academic schedule must go one. Dean Caron also reveled how the school plans to deal with the end of classes and the all-important law school finals post wildfire:
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We’re compressing the finals period a bit and holding classes that first week in December. We thought of extending further into December before the Christmas holiday, but so many students have already bought tickets home that it seemed less desirable. We decided against holding online classes because not all students have access to the internet. But we’re having faculty offer asynchronous lectures that students can watch when they’re able to.
Dean Caron also noted that in the hurry to evacuate, some of the law students left behind their most precious possessions — their outlines.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).