Bruce Campbell Adamson PO Box 1003 Aptos, CA 95001-1003

It was the day after my sister's 31st birthday. You know the sister who looks like Katie Couric (fact is Katie is a cousin through the Carter and Benjamin Harrison side of the family). Twin giant fires driven by hot desert winds cut separate paths of destruction across Southern California Saturday, one sweeping 15 miles from the Simi Hills to the Mailbu coast, the other sprinting across northeast Orange county and into the exclusive Anaheim Hills subdivision. At least 56 homes and 41 mobile homes were lost to the fires, and hundreds of people were evacuated. No fatalities, but several people, including six firefighters, suffered minor injuries....The L.A. Times reported.

Adamson had just completed his only real estate transaction to this date by leasing a home to the youngest male ever to who has won an Academy Award, Timothy Hutton for Ordinary People. On the other side of the Colony of Hutton's home is the well known Adamson House Museum. Adamson's childhood housekeeper Irene listed on home page worked for Timothy's father originally in the Mailbu Colony long before she worked for Tim.

It was a tough call but Deputy L.A. County Fire Chief Bob Sarno he would have to devote much of his force to protecting the residents at Malibu Colony. It took Sarno just 15 minutes to make this decision.

Sarno also tried "to take the needs of Latigo and Corral canyon residents into consideration by putting as much equipment as he could spare. The goal was accomplished in Corral Canyon, yet 15 homes were lost in Latigo Canyon. "I don't know what else we could have done" given the high winds, which precluded any help from helicopters or planes that could have dropped fire retardant chemicals. Sarno had been fighting fires since 1958 when he first manned a fire hose. Another community hit hard was that of Paradise Cove where 39 homes were burned to the ground. The L.A. Times reported that "Strong winds pushed the blaze into a series of fireballs that leap-frogged the Pacific Coast Highway and overwhelmed his men..."

Los Angeles County fire officials said that by nightfall the Dayton Canyon fire had destroyed 30 homes in Latigo Canyon and 41 mobile homes in Paradise Cove, a coastal enclave south of Point Dume. The fire consumed more than 30,000 acres of canyon brush and grasslands, mostly in Los Angeles County...Firefighters said the flames, pushed by 60 m.p.h. Santa Ana winds; jumped nearly PCH highway in small fireballs, "as if fired from a cannon." Tall, graceful eucalyptus trees inside the complex exploded, and the dense smoke and glow from the flames gave the ocean a bronze sheen. Paradise Cove is where Jim Rockford, the private detective kept his trailer in the T.V. series. The L.A. Times reported that David Lifton, 19 was inside his home when he heard the commotion. He only had time to take off running toward the beach before his home was consumed. "I looked back up and all I saw was a ball of fire," he said late in the afternoon, his eyes searching the rubble for anything usable or wearable. He was left with little more than the shirt and jeans he wore, and they were black with ash and smoke. Mr. Lifton is a also an author who specializes in the JFK Assassination and he too has purchased the entire set of the de Mohrenschildt Story.

When the flames closed in on Earl Baxtee's Arabian breeding-ranch, Baxtee could only round up two of 60 prize winning horses. He loaded Gojee,a 22-year-old stallion sired by Comet, Poland's most famous racehorse, and Alondraa, a 15-year-old brood mare. Shortly thereafter, Gojee stood calmly on Coral Beach. Next to him was the body of Alondraa, dead. The owners were forced to kill Alondraa after she was injured when she shot like a cannon on to the coast highway impaling herself on a metal stake.
Barbra Streisand's two acre estate escaped a close call. At 8:30am, Saturday Jan Severn was contacted and told that the fire was moving in the direction of their home. She remained and a half an hour her $150,000 ranch-style home was raging in flames. "It was an inferno," she said. "The kids and I were sitting on a coffee table praying. After the cloud passed over, we realized the house was on fire...I took the kids outside and saw that the roof was on fire." Jan's husband was a businessman's Bible meeting. Sure that his home would not be destroyed by the Hellish fires of 1982. He was wrong.

On Pacific Coast Highway at Escondido Beach, a man drove his V.W. up to a police roadblock and shouted at an officer: "I gotta get through, man, I went through this in 1978. My kids could be dying up there." The officer responded soberly, "You are blocking the road, sir." Near Latigo Canyon, a man whose family lived in the fire danger area ran a Highway Patrol roadblock, dragging an officer for a few feet. Other officers jumped in and arrested the man, three dozen people jeered them," The L.A. Times reported.

Arson was the suspected cause of the Malibu blaze, which started early Saturday morning in Dayton Canyon, west of Hidden Hills, then burned a 20-mile long swath that included parts of both Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Several homes were destroyed along the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway, between Kanan Dume and the mouth of Corral Canyon. At dusk, flames spread down to the PCH at several points along Corral Beach. Dozens of engine companies guarded a 76 gasoline station and others lined Corral Canyon Road to protect a recreational vehicle park. At least twice flames threatened to break into the 125-space park, which was mostly empty as travelers moved their trailers and recreational vehicles.

At the mouth of Corral Canyon entrance about a block in is the entrance to the Fred Roberts Ranch. This is where Bruce Adamson's story comes into play.

On October 9th, 1982 Adamson left his home on Stanford Avenue to assist the Robert Family's ranch. No one had called me for assistance, I took it upon myself to assist. For throughout the 1970s I had been a close friend of Jimmy Roberts who treated me like a brother. Jimmy's family used to own all of the property at Big Rock, Malibu. His family were wealthy and they owned a 1,000 acre ranch in Malibu. Jimmy, a songwriter and musician took to me possibly because uncle Harold was also a songwriter. When I went up to Malibu to shoot photographs of the 1979 fire, I ran into a Chris Gordon who had been Jimmy Robert's guitar teacher. Jimmy had real talent as a musician friends of Randy California, Chamber's Brothers and other well known rock and roll musicians from the 1960/70s era.

Jimmy's father and mother Jim & Betty Roberts would have me over to their Big Rock Canyon home for barbeques. Betty was truly the best looking mother of all my friends. She had doubled for Doris Day in The Glassbottom Boat. On several occasions they invited me over to Catalina Island on their 60 foot Yacht "Betty Won," docked on their mooring in Avalon. I don't think I ever had more fun training for my very first marathon which I did in 3 and a half hours. Jimmy Roberts, the son, would often take me to the Robert's Malibu Ranch to swim and to ride their horses.

I remember waking up early Saturday morning and driving out to Malibu to see if there was a way to help out and pay them back for their hospitality. I arrived after the main wave passed through the Solstice Canyon the fire had done it's main damage and passed through the Robert's Ranch. There were no fire engines devoted to helping the trees. I grabbed a bucket and began watering down the burning trees using the creek for my source of water. I was a one-man-operation. The only person on the ranch who devoted his energy to preserve the tree life. Jim Roberts , Sr. drove in and thanked me for thinking of their interests. When I arrived there was no large blazing fires, yet many of the trees on the Robert's Ranch were still burning at the base.

The Robert's Ranch home had already burned. I just kept saying to myself, "Someday, someone will be thankful that I had the insight to spend the time on helping these beautiful trees and possibly saving their lifes. I acted swiftly by spending the entire day running down into the creek and scooping up water and dousing their thirsty trunks. I began where the plaque is today and proceeded for about a mile. All the way to where Fred and Florence Robert's ranch has rested for the pass 30 years. The only thing that was left was the guest house by the swimming pool, the chimneys and foundation.

Solstice Canyon National Park which was christened on June 19, 1988. I found a plaque with a horseshoe in the center with the palm prints of Fred and Florence Roberts with their two sons Jim and Jack embeded in the waterfalls. The boys hands were half the size of mine. Jimmy, my friend, was the son of Jim. We had a lot of good times together on this ranch. A Robert's cousin Robert R. Feigel wrote the following:

" Anyway, just wanted to touch base and thank you for sharing your memories
> online. One tiny correction. In your description of Fred's path to wealth,
> you mentioned that he used the money from the yacht auction to establish a
> chain of liquor stores. But he also had what I remember being told was the
> first chain of supermarkets (Roberts Markets) in Southern California. My
> step-dad managed the market chain as well as being editor of the Roberts News
> (an independent newspaper). ...After selling Roberts Markets, I understand that Fred
established a property investment firm in Santa Monica while Jimmy and
Jack continued running the Roberts Liquor Stores end of the business. I
also understand that Fred's death was due to an unfortunate accident.
He'd come home to the Ranch and the electric gates weren't working. So
he got out of his car and put it into 'park'. While he was attempting to
manually open the gates, the car apparently popped out of 'park' and ran
into him. He died later from complications caused by the injuries he
received.

"Incidently, Fred kept the Liquor Stores and I was working as 'night manager'
> at one of them when JFK was assassinated. That day I was in a Whitefront
> store in the valley buying my first stereo when people started making a
> commotion in the television department. So I watched the story unfold via all
> three networks, until they combined their coverage.
>
> On the day of his funeral, while driving out from Malibu to the store in
> South Gate (of all places!) I stopped by a 'negro' funeral home on an impulse
> and asked the woman in front if they had a black mourning band I could buy.
> She invited me into the back where about six people were weeping. They
> composed themselves, invited me to stay for a cup of tea and fitted me with
> the armband, which I wore to work.

On February 25, 2002, I made the trip to Solstice Canyon and found myself getting all choked up. I was emotional, for a lot of the trees that I had helped were still alive
and now a part of this National Park a generation after the fact. I had forgotten my good deed and had not known the property was opened to the public till I visited the ranch on this day. I was one of those people who enjoyed the beautiful tree life twenty years later, it literallly brought tears to my eyes. I will never forget the memories I had at the Robert's Ranch.

Solstice Canyon--a place where nature greets you with sights and sounds of a babbling brook set amidst towering alder and sycamore trees. Green leaves surround you like a giant cocoon, even in hot, dry summers, filling you with a sense of peace and solitude.The solitude, serenity, and abundant natural resources have attracted people to Solstice Canyon for centuries. The Chumash historically used the land for food, water and shelter. Ranchers grazed cattle in the area for many years. Around 1865, Matthew Keller built a stone cottage, which is still visible from Solstice Canyon Trail. The cottage is believed to be the oldest existing stone building in Malibu.Another home was built on the property in 1952. Renowned African-American architect Paul Williams designed the house for property owners Fred and Florence Roberts. The grandparents of my friend Jimmy.

The house was later featured in an issue of Architectural Digest for it's stunning blend of natural features within the design, including waterfalls, creeks and trees. Today you can see a small part of the past in the horseshoes and colorful pieces of glass glittering in the walkways at Tropical Terrace, near the building's foundations. Fred Roberts made a fortune off of an idea to raffle off a 300 foot Yacht which became a national contest. A man from Compton won the boat. This allowed Fred Robert's to open up a chain of liquor stores throughout the Los Angeles County area. Back to the Robert's Ranch. Other evidence of human interaction with land includes two tall tan buildings on the hillside, which stand as landmarks to another era.

Space Technology Laboratories, Inc. a subsidiary of Tompson-Ramo-Wooldridge (TRW), rented 10 acres from the Roberts Family from 1961-1973. TRW tested satellite equipment for space missions, including the Pioneer series, and conducted medical research in magnetic resonance imaging. Solstice Canyon was chosen to conduct such tests, due to its convenient location, and its lack of human-made and natural disturbances. Today, Solstice Canyon still serves as a haven from city life. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy first opened Solstice Canyon as a public park on June 19, 1988. It is now managed by the National Park Service.