Good Samaritan Packs Yacht With Supplies For Stranded Residents Of Malibu's Paradise Cove
MALIBU (CBSLA) – With roads closed for days after the Woolsey Fire and people stranded on Paradise Cove in Malibu, one local man did what he could to help his neighbors.
It was an emotional reunion for a father and daughter who were separated Nov. 9 after being evacuated from their Malibu homes. Howard Leight stayed back to try and save his three properties, but his 38-acre ranch was ravaged by the blaze that has destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched nearly 100,000 acres. But his other two homes – including Malibu Rocky Oaks Estate Vineyards, a business he and his family run – was saved.
"I had no water. So I had buckets from out of the pool. I was going back and forth with heavy buckets," he said.
Leight did what he could to save what he could, but he also knew there are so many people who couldn't save their homes.
Shopping markets are closed or have been burned down, and many have been without electricity, clothing, food, water and other essential items.
That's where Leight and Bill Kerbox stepped in. They filled Leight's 150-foot yacht with supplies for those on Paradise Cove.
Surfers, paddle boarders and jet ski riders took the supplies off of the boat and brought them to shore.
"It's almost a surreal situation. You know you're doing really good. You know you're helping out and doing what you can," Leight said.
Leight, who grew up in West Los Angeles, has lived in Malibu for decades and is a self-made millionaire. He said Malibu will come back stronger than ever from the devastation.
"Life will come back to the way it was, beautiful in Malibu,"
Others are also following Leight's lead. The owner of Body Glove used his yacht Wednesday to help bring in more supplies.