Crews struggled to contain a wind-driven blaze that forced more than 10,000 to evacuate the canyons of Malibu, California, on Wednesday, even as forecasters said improving weather significantly diminished high fire danger.
Residents waited anxiously to see whether their properties had been spared by the Franklin fire, which erupted late on Monday and grew to more than 6 sq miles by Wednesday morning. The blaze was just 7% contained on Wednesday afternoon.
Among those that were ordered to flee the enclave near Los Angeles were the performers Cher and Dick Van Dyke.
More than 1,500 firefighters were assigned to battle the fire, with many climbing in steep canyons near lines of flames and others hosing down collapsed roofs of horse stables and charred homes. Officials said seven structures had been destroyed and nine others had been damaged.
“The deep and rugged terrain, along with the strong winds and low humidity, continue to pose challenges for firefighters,” the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire, said in an incident update.
But weather conditions were forecast to improve this week, aiding the fire crews in their efforts. The National Weather Service said late on Tuesday that the strongest Santa Ana winds, dry gusts that sweep out of the interior toward the coast, had passed. Forecasters said that all red flag warnings, which indicate conditions for high fire danger and Santa Ana winds, were discontinued.
“We’re far better off this morning than we were in the last 30-plus hours,” the Malibu mayor, Doug Stewart, said at a Wednesday news conference.
Meanwhile, humidity was expected to increase, with a small chance of rain on Thursday offering some hope – but winds could also grow stronger by the afternoon, Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told the Los Angeles Times.
At least 7,500 structures, mostly homes, were under threat as of Wednesday morning, with at least 12,600 people under evacuation orders, officials said.
The fire erupted shortly before 11pm on Monday in Malibu, a community of about 10,000 people on the western edge of Los Angeles, renowned for its stunning scenery of seaside bluffs and beaches featured in Hollywood films.
The blaze swiftly moved south, jumping over the famous Pacific Coast Highway and extending all the way to the ocean, where large homes line the beach and rugged inland canyons are notoriously fire prone. At one point, flames threatened the historic Malibu Pier, but the structure was protected, officials said.
Flames burned near celebrities’ seaside mansions, horse farms and Pepperdine University, where some 3,000 students were forced to shelter in place on campus. Many evacuated their dorms to the library through smoke and ash as flames roared in the canyon nearby.
But early assessments indicated damage may be limited. Pepperdine University said an early analysis showed little to no damage to structures on campus. And the Los Angeles county fire department chief, Anthony C Marrone, said a preliminary aerial assessment estimated that seven structures were destroyed and eight structures damaged.
It was not immediately known how the blaze started.
Wedged between the mountains and the ocean, Malibu is frequently at the mercy of the state’s relentless natural hazards, including landslides and wildfires. For residents, it has led to a familiar cycle where once-lush vegetation is charred.
“It burns, it grows back, and we’re resilient and strong,” said Stewart.
Mimi Teller, a Red Cross spokesperson who worked in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, said many people arrived in their pajamas and were “definitely in shock.
“Nobody even had a backpack, it was ‘Get out now,’” Teller said. “One lady didn’t even have a leash for her dog, she just scooped them up.”
Shawn Smith said he was asleep early Tuesday when someone knocked on his RV to wake him up to evacuate the Malibu RV park around 3am.
“You could see the fires rolling in, in over the canyon. It was like: ‘Holy crap, this is real,’” he said. He returned Wednesday to find that the RV park had been saved – firefighters stopped the flames just before they entered the area.
“We got lucky,” he said.
Van Dyke, one of many celebrities with homes in Malibu, said he and his wife, Arlene Silver, had evacuated as the fire swept in. The actor turns 99 on Friday. “Arlene and I have safely evacuated with our animals except for Bobo escaped as we were leaving,” said Van Dyke, referring to one of their cats, in a Facebook post. “We’re praying he’ll be OK and that our community in Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires.”
Cher evacuated from her Malibu home when ordered and is staying at a hotel, her publicist Liz Rosenberg said late on Tuesday.
Power to about 40,000 customers had been shut off by Monday night, including 11,000 in LA county, as Southern California Edison, the utility there, worked to mitigate the impacts of the Santa Ana winds. Gabriela Ornelas, an Edison spokesperson, said service power was shut off to most customers in Malibu at about 6 or 7pm on Monday. About 3,300 customers in the area remained without power on Wednesday afternoon, due to safety shutoffs and for firefighter safety.
The Woolsey fire that roared through Malibu in 2018, killing three people and destroying 1,600 homes, was sparked by Edison equipment.
While Malibu is known for its celebrity and uber-wealthy residents, Kasey Earnest, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu, said on Tuesday that she was especially concerned about the lower- and middle-class families, ranchers and farmers who make up the community, too.
“I refer to those residents as the heart of Malibu,” she said. “They’re just normal families – nobody’s landing a helicopter on their property.”
