Once again, thousands of residents of the Southern California city of Malibu have been forced to flee their homes as a late-season wildfire fueled by strong winds ripped through the area.
The blaze exploded overnight during red flag conditions that created what forecasters described as a “particularly dangerous situation,” resulting in the evacuation of at least 6,000 people and leading Pepperdine University to issue a shelter-in-place order.
The Franklin Fire, which started at around 10:45 p.m. PT, burned 2,200 acres by the early hours of Tuesday. More than 2,000 structures were in the brush fire’s path, according to KABC-TV. It was unclear how many homes had already been affected, but a spokesperson for the city told the station that it is “certain some number of homes are definitely going to be badly damaged.”
At around 3 a.m., the fire was moving south across Pacific Coast Highway and into the Malibu Pier area. Road closures were announced on Malibu Canyon Road, which extends from the hills down to the coast.
Tankers were being sent to dump water on the fire, according to ABC 7 reporter Drew Tuma. Tuma noted that because the Franklin Fire is currently the state’s only wildfire, Cal Fire, the state’s fire department, is able to send all of its assets to the city.
The Red Cross opened an evacuation center at the Palisades Recreation Center, and animal shelters were open in Woodland and Agoura Hills.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. So far, there have been no reports of injuries.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said it would hold a press conference on the blaze at 8 a.m. local time.
The City of Malibu said that, due to safety concerns, schools in Malibu were closed until further notice.
“Authorities are urging residents and visitors to stay clear of the area, as the fire continues to pose a significant threat,” it warned.
Pepperdine, which is home to approximately 7,600 students, said its students and staff continued to shelter in place at the Payson Library and Tyler Campus Center. The school said power was out across much of campus and Malibu and was expected to be off for the “forseeable future.”
The school also postponed its final exams, which were scheduled for Tuesday ahead of winter break. On the university’s academic calendar, it said that residents should check out of on-campus housing 24 hours after their last final exam, but could do so no later than Friday morning at 9 a.m.
Across the state, some 62,575 customers were without power, with the majority in southern California, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.US. Utility Southern California Edison had previously said it was considering shutting off power for more than 250,000 homes and businesses across seven counties starting Monday evening. San Diego Gas & Electric said it has notified nearly 117,500 customers that they might temporarily lose service.
Unfortunately, Cal Fire reported that red flag warnings were in effect through Wednesday afternoon due to the Santa Ana winds and extremely low humidity. Santa Anas are dry and warm northeast winds that blow from the interior of the region toward the coastline and typically occur during the months from fall to early spring.
Los Angeles weather officials said some areas saw gusts between 73 to more than 90 miles per hour.
Last month, the Mountain Fire forced evacuations in Camarillo, less than an hour away. That fire destroyed hundreds of homes.
In 2018, Malibu was devastated by the Woolsey Fire, which burned down or damaged the homes of many big celebrities, including singer Miley Cyrus and actor Liam Hemsworth, and actor Gerard Butler.
Climate change has created weather patterns that are more conducive to fire, researchers at UC Riverside said earlier this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
