All mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted in Malibu as cooler temperatures, rising humidity and gentler winds helped firefighters boost containment on the Franklin fire.
This positive turn of events allowed residents to breathe a sigh of relief after having braced for the worst when the fire ignited amid fierce winds Monday night. Although the Franklin fire has scorched about 4,000 acres, it pales in comparison to the devastation of the nearly 97,000-acre Woolsey fire in 2018, which still looms large in many residents’ minds.
“We’ve had a lot of good success in continuing to march forward on our containment of this incident,” Dusty Martin, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident commander, said in a Friday evening community update. “Today, we were able to repopulate residents back into their homes and start to bring some of that normalcy back to the community.”
At the fire’s peak, about 20,000 residents were under evacuation orders or warnings.
Improving weather conditions also allowed all sections of Pacific Coast Highway to reopen Friday. A hard closure remains in effect on Malibu Canyon Road from Civic Center Way to Piuma Road, while several canyon roads north of PCH are also closed to nonresidents.
But Malibu is not out of the woods yet, Martin warned.
Rugged terrain continues to pose a challenge for fire crews trying to access steep mountainous areas. Greater Los Angeles is also expecting another, more moderate, round of Santa Ana winds Tuesday through Thursday.
“With the combination of critically dry brush, extremely steep slopes and some weather conditions that are coming up next week, we still have some potential for this fire to get up and move,” he said. “We’re going to remain vigilant and continue working until all those heat sources have been extinguished.”
At the start of the week, most of Los Angeles was under a rare ‘particularly dangerous’ fire warning due to the combination of Santa Ana winds and critically low humidity levels. By Friday, wind speeds in Malibu had dropped to about 10 mph, while humidity rates had rebounded to 70%, according to the National Weather Service.
The fire was 32% contained as of Friday night. So far, 19 structures have been confirmed destroyed and another 19 damaged, officials said. Eight of the buildings destroyed were homes.
“As we shift from response to recovery following the Franklin fire, I want to acknowledge how challenging this time has been for our community,” Malibu City Councilwoman Marianne Riggins said Friday evening. “Many of you have faced uncertainty, displacement and loss, and yet, Malibu’s resilience and strength have shown through.”
Malibu Elementary, Middle and High schools will reopen Monday. Cleaning and HVAC filter replacements will take place over the weekend at all three campuses.
Webster Elementary School sustained more severe smoke damage and will remain closed until Jan. 6 to allow time for restoration. Starting Tuesday, Webster students will relocate to Malibu Elementary School for the rest of the semester.
At Pepperdine University, where students sheltered in place as the fire raged, normal operations will resume Monday.
The city of Malibu plans to reopen City Hall on Wednesday and host a community meeting at 6 p.m. that day to provide updates, hear resident concerns and share additional recovery resources.
