Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Thousands of Southern California residents were under evacuation orders and warnings Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu that burned near celebrity beachside mansions, horse farms and the University from Pepperdine, where students watched as flames raced down hillsides and the sky turned deep red. .
A “minimal number” of homes burned, but the exact amount was not immediately known, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said. An Associated Press photographer witnessed at least one house and car on fire.
More than 8,100 homes and other structures were threatened, including more than 2,000 where residents were ordered to evacuate. An additional 6,000 people were warned to be prepared to flee at any moment as Santa Ana winds with gusts up to 40 mph (64 km/h) caused erratic fire conditions.
Pepperdine student Abigail Ballhagen was in the school’s library when the power went out Monday afternoon and students started screaming. The school later evacuated students to the library from their dormitories due to worsening conditions.
LOOK | Firefighters work in rugged terrain to protect homes:
Firefighters are trying to contain a fast-moving wildfire in Malibu, California, that has forced many residents of the area to flee, including students at a local university.
Ballhagen and Bethany Kronlund, who are co-resident assistants, said taking the other students there amid the fire’s smoke and encroaching flames was terrifying.
“Ash was everywhere, embers were everywhere,” Kronlund said.
Ballhagen added, “It felt super apocalyptic.”
About 3,000 students sheltered on campus, some in a library and others, some in pajamas, gathered outside on a sports field as the fire lit up the night sky. Someone evacuating in an SUV drove past burning palm trees as tires shot up embers.
The university later said the worst of the fire had passed the school. Michael Friel, a Pepperdine spokesman, said parts of the campus had been “singed” but there was no major damage.
No contention so far
It was not immediately known how the blaze, dubbed the Franklin Fire, started. County firefighters estimated more than 10 square kilometers of dry trees and brush had burned and structures were threatened. There was no holding back.
The fire burned in dangerous conditions due to notorious Santa Ana winds that are expected to last through Wednesday. Dry, dry gusts move inland toward the coast, pushing back moist ocean breezes.
Dick Van Dyke, one of the many celebrities with homes in Malibu, said he and his wife Arlene Silver had been evacuated when the fire swept through. The actor turns 99 on Friday.
“Arlene and I evacuated safely with our animals, except Bobo escaped while we were leaving,” Van Dyke said, referring to one of her cats. “We pray that he is okay and that our Serra Retreat community survives these terrible fires.”
Marrone said at least 1,000 firefighters would battle the blaze before the afternoon, when winds were expected to pick up again.
“Time is of the essence for us to get the fire under control and start to get some containment,” the chief said at a morning news conference.
The fire broke out shortly before 11pm local time on Monday and quickly moved south, jumping over the famous Pacific Coast Highway and spreading to the ocean, where large houses line the beach and steep interior canyons are notoriously prone to fire.
At one point, flames threatened Malibu’s historic pier, but the structure was protected, officials said.
Nick Smyth, 43, lives on a farm in the community of Serra Retreat, a short distance inland from the pier. His wife packed her getaway bags as a precaution before going to bed on Monday and a few hours later they heard a neighbor running down the road screaming about a fire. With the flames “lapping the tops of the mountains,” Smyth bundled up her two children and fled to a friend’s house outside Malibu.
“My son is in a little bit of shock, he’s definitely feeling a little anxious,” Smyth said Tuesday. “They woke up to an inferno outside their bedroom.”
He says he believes his home is safe, but knows others weren’t so lucky. Some of their neighbors stayed behind to fend off the flames and look after the horses.
Firefighters working in rugged terrain protected homes from the canyon overnight while some residents evacuated on foot with their horses.
Winds are expected to pick up
As the sun rose Tuesday, a thick plume of smoke rose over Pepperdine’s campus and the adjacent mountains that tumble down to the coast. A shelter-in-place order was lifted at the site, but the school canceled classes and finals for Tuesday.
“The university understands that the worst of the fire has happened at Pepperdine. However, there are smaller spot fires on campus that do not threaten life or structures, and fire resources remain on campus to deal with these spot fires as that occur,” Pepperdine said in a statement.
North-northeast winds were expected to increase to 48-64 km/h with gusts up to 105 km/h expected later in the day, the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles posted on X.
By Monday night, power was out to about 40,000 customers, including 11,000 in LA County, as Southern California Edison worked to mitigate the impacts of Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage equipment electricity and cause forest fires. Gabriela Ornelas, an Edison spokeswoman, said service power was cut to most Malibu customers around 6 or 7 p.m. local time Monday.
The Woolsey fire that roared through Malibu in 2018, killing three people and destroying 1,600 homes, was started by Edison’s team.
