Homes burn as wind-driven wildfire prompts evacuations in Malibu, California

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of Southern California residents were under evacuation orders and warnings Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu that burned near seaside mansions and Pepperdine University, where students watched as flames raced down hillsides and the sky turned deep red.

A “minimal number” of homes burned, but the exact amount wasn’t immediately known, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony C. Marrone said. An Associated Press photographer witnessed at least one house and a car engulfed in flames.

More than 8,100 homes and other structures were under threat, including more than 2,000 where residents were ordered to evacuate. Another 6,000 people were warned to be prepared to flee at a moment’s notice as Santa Ana winds with gusts reaching 40 mph (64 kph) made for erratic fire conditions.

Ryan Song, a resident assistant at Pepperdine University, said the power went out at his dorm late Monday and when he looked out the window he saw a pink glow.

“I thought this is too bright, and it got bigger and bigger,” the 20-year-old junior said. “I immediately went outside and saw that it was a real fire.”

Song and the other resident assistants went door to door, evacuating students. Most were calm and followed instructions, he said; a few who were scared rushed to their cars to get off campus.

Song spent the next few hours racing back and forth in the dark between his dorm and the main campus to ensure no one was left behind as fire raged down a mountain, he said.

“It felt really close,” he said, adding he was probably less than a mile away. “Seeing the fire rampaging down the hill is obviously scary for students but I felt like our staff was prepared.”

About 3,000 students sheltered-in-place on campus, a few in a library while others, some wearing pajamas, gathered outside on a sports field as fire lit up the night sky. Someone evacuating in an SUV sped past burning palm trees as the tires kicked up embers.

The university later said the worst of the fire had pushed past the school. Michael Friel, a Pepperdine spokesperson, said parts of the campus had been “singed” but there was no major damage.

It was not immediately known how the blaze, named the Franklin Fire, started. County fire officials estimated that more than 3.5 square miles (9 square kilometers) of trees and dry brush had burned and structures were threatened. There was no containment.

The fire burned amid dangerous fire conditions because of notorious Santa Ana winds expected to last into Wednesday. The withering, dry gusts sweep out of the interior toward the coast, pushing back moist ocean breezes.

Marrone said at least a thousand firefighters would be scrambling to get control of the blaze before about 2 p.m., when winds were expected to regain strength. “Time is of the essence for us to grab a hold of the fire and start getting some containment,” the chief said at a morning news conference.

The fire erupted shortly before 11 p.m. Monday and 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.

Nick Smyth, 43, lives on a farm in the Serra Retreat community, a short distance inland from the pier. His wife packed getaway bags as a precaution before they went to sleep Monday and a few hours later they heard a neighbor running down the road shouting about a fire. With flames “lapping the tops of the mountains,” Smyth bundled their two kids and fled for a friend’s house outside of Malibu.

“My son’s got a little bit of shellshock, he’s definitely feeling a little anxious,” Smyth said Tuesday. “They woke up to an inferno outside their bedroom.” He believes their house is safe, but he knows others weren’t as fortunate.

Firefighters working in rugged terrain protected canyon homes overnight as some residents evacuated on foot with their horses. As the sun came up Tuesday, heavy smoke billowed over the Pepperdine campus and the adjacent mountains that plunge toward the coast. A shelter-in-place order was lifted but the school canceled classes and finals for Tuesday.

“The university understands the worst of the fire has pushed past Pepperdine. However, there are smaller spot fires on campus that are not threatening life or structures, and fire resources remain on campus to address these spot fires as they occur,” Pepperdine said in a statement.

North to northeast winds were forecast to increase to 30 to 40 mph (48 to 64 kph) with gusts up to 65 mph (105 kph) expected later in the day, the National Weather Service’s office for Los Angeles posted on X.

Power to about 40,000 customers had been shut off by Monday night, including 11,000 in LA County, as Southern California Edison worked to mitigate the impacts of the Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires. Gabriela Ornelas, an Edison spokesperson, said service power was shut off to most customers in Malibu around 6 or 7 p.m. on Monday.

The Woolsey Fire that roared through Malibu in 2018, killing three people and destroying 1,600 homes, was sparked by Edison equipment.

___ Associated Press journalists Amy Taxin in Orange County, California; Gabriela Aoun in San Diego; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.