Under Siege

Wildfires are a natural reality in Southern California, but is mass destruction an inevitability? Could the Community Brigade Program be a step to unlocking a different kind of future for people living in high-risk fire zones? We look at if the program worked and how it could reshape life with wildfire in Los Angeles and beyond. 

As the nation watched in shock and horror as the Palisades Fire brought Los Angeles to its knees, a group of civilians stepped up to defend their home turf. The Community Brigade Program is a first-in-the nation experiment that trains everyday people to work alongside first responders during disasters. Host Adriana Cargill takes us into the heart of Palisades Fire to ride alongside with two childhood friends who risk everything to save the place they call home. 

In an age of unstoppable wildfires, meet the people finding a new way forward. We take you into the heart of the deadly Palisades Fire with the everyday men and women who stepped forward to defend their community.

One of the Point Dume Bombers who lost his home in the Woolsey Fire uses his pain and loss as fuel for action. He embarks on a quest to change the way we live with wildfire. The LA County Fire Department, Malibu City Council members, everyday citizens, and other fire brigades in Malibu join his quest to create a new model of community resilience. Five years later, his relentless drive might just payoff: the Community Brigade Pilot Program is ever so close to becoming a reality.

When Point Dume Bombers are pushed to their limits, will they survive the test? Part 2 of the Under Siege episode chronicles life in the harrowing aftermath of the Woolsey Fire.

Hear the motley new generation of Point Dume Bombers in action as they race to put out hot spots, save homes, get essential supplies through roadblocks, and so much more. They did it all on the fly, but their efforts have inspired a new model of community resilience in the face of ever-worsening wildfires.

Why do people stay during wildfires and how did the Wild West culture shape the people who live on this hilly, chaparral-covered coastline? A history of Malibu, the evolution of surf localism, and the genesis of the Point Dume Bombers. We meet the obstinate Queen of Malibu whose determination and love of land shaped the culture of one of the best surf spots in the world.

Loss, hope, and resilience in the face of one of nature's most terrifying forces: wildfire. We meet a group of surfers called the Point Dume Bombers who stayed in Malibu during the 2018 Woolsey Fire and find out how they survived the most destructive fire in Los Angeles County history. 

This is Sandcastles, a podcast about home, how we create it, and why we fight so hard for it. The first season follows a misfit group of surfers who fight tooth and nail to protect their home against the Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles. Dubbed The Point Dume Bombers, they made it all up as they went, but their efforts are now the basis for a new model of community resilience in the face of ever-worsening wildfires.