By Marcelle Dibrell

As devastating wildfires swept across Southern California, volleyball icon and lifelong Pacific Palisades resident Randy Stoklos took matters into his own hands to save not only his home but also those of his neighbors. Using water from his spa and neighborhood pools, the former beach volleyball champion fought off flames in an extraordinary act of bravery and determination.

Stoklos lives in Castellammare, a neighborhood of multimillion-dollar homes located along the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades.

“I am — I think — the only one who stayed on through probably 500 homes here,” Stoklos told a local ABC news reporter. “I saved my home. But it’s sheer devastation here.”

The water was shut off in his Castellammare neighborhood, so he had been fighting fires armed with a bucket, water from his spa, and neighborhood swimming pools.

“I stopped a couple fires,” Stoklos said.

Cell phone service was out. For at least two days, he was alone, driving neighborhood streets and putting out fires where he could. “I’ve seen a couple engines up here, but most of them left going to different positions,” Stoklos said.

Stoklos, a legend in the world of beach volleyball and the first player to earn more than $1 million in career winnings, has spent his life mastering precision and strategy on the court.

But this January, his skill and determination were directed toward saving homes as the Palisades fire tore through the Castellammare neighborhood, leaving destruction in its wake.“I’ve gone through the Woolsey Fire,” Stoklos said, referring to a 2018 fire that burned nearly 97 thousand acres in nearby Malibu and beyond. “I’ve gone through all of them. And I know that actually the guy that stays is the guy who saves his home. I know that a lot of people don’t want to hear that. I’m capable.”

Armed with buckets, hoses, and sheer willpower, Stoklos used every resource available to combat the flames. When water pressure dropped in his neighborhood, he turned to his spa to prevent his house from burning down.

“I stopped it,” Stoklos said. “And then it reignited at about 4:30 this morning, and thank God I woke up at the perfect time and I got it and I stopped it from burning my house.”

At press time, the Palisades fire had burned nearly 20,000 acres, including 5,000 structures, and had claimed one life in Malibu.

It was only 6 percent contained 4 days after it began.

Yet amidst the destruction, stories like Stoklos’s bring hope. His quick thinking and experience in past fires helped save several homes in his neighborhood.

“This is paradise,” Stoklos said, surveying the devastation. “This is one of the finest places in the world to live. I know the resiliency of the neighborhood, of the people. They’ll rebuild. It’ll take some while.”

Stoklos’s connection to the Castellammare neighborhood runs deep.

A resident for nearly 65 years, he has seen the area endure many natural disasters but said this fire was unlike anything he’d faced before. Holding back tears, he shared the emotional toll of the battle.

“It’s incredible what Mother Nature can do. I hope to never see this again,” he said.

Despite his exhaustion, Stoklos had no plans to stop. After putting out the fires around his home, he planned to refuel his truck to continue patrolling the area to assist his neighbors.

“I was born in Pacific Palisades,” he said. “I bought the house right next door to me. I know all these people up here.”

So. Cal. Wildfires. Photo: Eric Neilson