In a small, intimate press conference on Friday, County of Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Malcolm Dicks was reunited with Patty Phillips, the Malibu resident he saved from the Palisades Fire.
Held at Fire Station 70 on Carbon Canyon Road, overlooking the burnt out shells of destroyed homes on the PCH, they were joined by LA County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone and LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
On the evening of January 7, 2025, as the Palisades Fire burned through the Big Rock community in Malibu, Phillips attempted to evacuate the area with her dog, Koda. As she drove down a dirt path off Big Rock Road, her vehicle got stuck. She was unable to move her car and feared that leaving the vehicle would risk her going off an embankment.
“Tuesday night, at about 7:30pm, I got lost in the flames in Big Rock, confused with the smoke and the fire surrounding me everywhere,” Phillips said. “I ended up on this tiny dirt driveway and I realized I was off the main road, the fire was below me and the hill above me was still blowing with red embers.
“I realized I could never get out alive and I couldn't leave my dog, knowing he would never make it, because your instinct is to run … There aren't words to describe what it's like, the idea that you're going to be burned alive in your car. And I was praying to God, please let me die from smoke, please do not let me be burned alive in my car,” she said.
Patty called 911 for help while her husband, James, who made it to Pacific Coast Highway, frantically asked first responders for help.
“I was calling 911 and they couldn't help me, they transferred me to the Sheriff's Department and they couldn't help me … And my husband, James, never gave up. He's telling the fireman, you need to save my wife. And they’re like, ‘We can't get up there, the power lines are down and we can't risk a fireman's life.’”
Without hesitation and putting his own life at risk, Dicks offered to assist, driving through the fire, past the downed power lines, he was able to locate and successfully rescue Patty and her dog, Koda, bringing them both to safety.
“I'm like, ‘Please save me, please save me’ and he's like, ‘We got you.’ I’ve never been so thankful my whole life. And I get in the truck with Malcolm and he's a big guy, he wraps his arm around me and escorts me to his truck. And I'm like, ‘Malcolm, thank you’ and he goes, ‘We still might die.’ I mean, that's how bad the fire was.”
According to CalFire, the Palisades Fire alone grew to be the 10th-deadliest and third-most destructive wildfire in US history, with 11 deaths, 6,770 structures destroyed and 23,448 acres scorched. Fighting back tears, Phillips read out loud a letter she had written to Dicks not long after the incident.
“Dear Malcolm, words cannot describe the way I was feeling as I sat in my car with the hills burning around me and thinking I was going to die while praying that I would be from smoke inhalation rather than burning to death. It was the lowest point of helplessness that I have ever felt in my life and one that I never want to experience ever again.
“As I sat there with my dog, Koda, thinking it was over, I looked up and saw the lights of your truck heading towards me and realized my savior had come to rescue me. Thank you. What an act of selflessness for you to run into a burning fire to save someone you don't know when you have a family of your own. How proud they must be for what amazing people [like you, do] allowing you to do the incredible, heroic work you do every day, knowing that you risk your life and all the firemen risk their life each and every day to respond to a fire."
Dicks responded like the consummate professional he is, “I'm just doing my job. It's what we're paid to do and I'm just glad she's safe. Her husband and dog are safe. I felt guilty for a while not knowing if her home had burned down or not, but her home is safe too.”
Marrone added, “Today's reunion is truly heartfelt as we join Patty, her family and Koda to reunite with Malcolm. I also want to express my sincere appreciation to Patty's husband James, whose quick thinking and actions were also instrumental in making a positive outcome to what certainly could have been just another tragic story.'
scott.snowden@smdp.cpm
