A wildfire was spreading rapidly early Tuesday morning in Malibu, triggering evacuations as strong Santa Ana winds fanned the flames.
Dubbed the Franklin fire, the blaze was reported just before 11 p.m. along Malibu Canyon Road and north of Francisco Ranch Road in the hills north of Pepperdine University. The fire had scorched about 100 acres shortly before midnight but was spreading rapidly, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Aerial footage from local news stations in the early hours of Tuesday morning showed flames devouring the hills as palm trees were tossed by strong winds. The National Weather Service reported sustained winds of up to 45 mph and gusts of up to 65 mph. The cause of the fire was unclear.
A five-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway was ordered shut down, east of Corral Canyon Road and west of Carbon Canyon Road, the city of Malibu said on social media.
Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order for the following areas:
- South of Piuma Road
- North of Pacific Coast Highwa
- East of Las Virgenes Road and Malibu Road
- West of Carbon Beach Terrace
Evacuation warnings include the following:
- East of Las Virgenes between Mulholland Highway to the northh and Piuma Road to the south
- Between Stunt Road to the north and Las Flores to the south
- East of Carbon Beach Terrace, west of Old Malibu Road, north of PCH to the evacuation border boundary
Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, local news outlets reported that the fire had moved into the Serra Retreat area and was threatening structures. The community is about three-fifths of a mile northwest of Malibu Pier and two-thirds of a mile northeast of Malibu Village Mall. There are private homes in addition to a Catholic retreat and conference center noted for its views.
In a statement, Pepperdine University said the fire was not currently affecting any portions of campus but students told KTLA overnight that dorms were without power.
The National Weather Service has issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning for wide swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, which will last through Tuesday afternoon. Gusts of up to 80 mph are possible, and relative humidity is forecast to be alarmingly low, while vegetation is extremely dry.
The National Weather Service said that within the Franklin fire area, strong and damaging winds from the north and northeast were expected to peak around sunrise Tuesday, and last through late Tuesday morning.
Relative humidity levels were as low as 9% just before midnight.
This is the second time this fire season that the weather service has issued a Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warning. The last time the warning was issued was on Nov. 5, and a day later, the Mountain fire ignited in Ventura County and, whipped by powerful winds, razed more than 240 buildings. It became the third-most-destructive wildfire in Southern California since 2013.
The dry, strong Santa Ana winds are being driven by a system of high pressure building in the Great Basin, which is sending air hurtling through canyons and mountain passes to the coast, where there is low pressure.
Malibu and neighboring communities in Thousand Oaks, Oak Park and Agoura Hills saw tremendous destruction in the 2018 Woolsey fire, which destroyed more than 1,600 structures and burned about 97,000 acres.
This story will be updated.
