A beachfront construction site in Malibu became the site of a rescue Wednesday.
A construction worker was injured after a large crane overturned near a hillside in the 31300 block of Broad Beach Road just off the Pacific Coast Highway, Patch reported.
The operator of the crane sustained a leg injury, which was described as non-life-threatening, a watch commander at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Malibu/Lost Hills station said, according to My News LA.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene at about 10:30 a.m. and closed off the block where the crane fell, according to CBS News. Firefighters arrived and found the crane operator trapped and needing to be extricated. The worker was transported to a hospital less than an hour later.
Stretches of the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu have been a perpetual construction site in the months since the deadly Palisades wildfire in January. It’s unclear whether the site where the crane worker was trapped is a residential property, though Broad Beach Road contains homes along the shore.
Debris removal and rebuilding has been a slow and steady recovery process in Malibu.
As of last month, 480 residential properties in Malibu had been cleared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; another 185 property owners have cleared debris privately, the Malibu Times reported.
The City of Malibu’s planning department has approved 68 rebuilding applications within the city limits, according to the municipality’s online permit tracker. So far, just two of those projects have had their building plans approved.
In unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, 418 rebuild permits have been issued in the Palisades and Eaton burn zones, according to the county’s permitting tracker. Of those, 17 have been issued in unincorporated parts of the Pacific Palisades burn zone.
— Chris Malone Méndez
Read more
From ashes to assets: Who’s snapping up California’s fire-damaged land?
Army Corps fire cleanup concludes as crews clear last homesite
Malibu’s post-wildfire market ramps up despite permit gridlock
