The students huddling in Pepperdine University’s library watched through the windows as flames crested the Santa Monica Mountains.
Some students prayed. Others called their parents as the wind blew embers across campus, setting palm trees on fire and drawing orange flames closer and closer to their building.
A few wondered out loud, when they were told to stay away from the windows, whether they had made a fateful mistake in not leaving campus.
“It was terrifying,” said Matthew Morrison, an 18-year-old acting major, who watched the blaze from the library’s first floor. “The fire was so intense, it felt like it was battering the windows.”
As the Franklin fire raged across Malibu in the early hours on Tuesday morning, officials at Pepperdine University urged students and faculty to remain on campus, inside the university’s fire-resistant buildings, even though they were in the middle of Malibu’s fire evacuation zone.
University officials were following a well-established plan: Pepperdine’s policy of sheltering students in fire-resistant structures when wildfires threaten Malibu has been in effect since 1993. The university notes that its shelter-in-place policy is supported and reviewed annually by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. In an emergency FAQ, the university notes that no campus buildings have been lost to wildfires.
On Monday night, many students on the Christian campus nestled between the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean were prepping for finals when power went out after 11p.m. Campus officials sent out alerts urging them to leave their dorms and head to the university’s fire-resistant buildings.
“All community members on the Malibu campus are directed to shelter in place in the Tyler Campus Center or Payson Library,” Pepperdine shared on X at 1:09 a.m. Tuesday.
Morrison was sleeping after a long day cramming for finals when his suitemates woke him. “Hey, we gotta go!” they yelled. “Pack a to-go bag!”
He tossed his wallet, laptop, water and granola bars into a duffel. Outside his dorm, the air was thick with smoke as he made his way to the library. But Morrison wasn’t scared. The fire was still off campus. Mostly, he felt irked to be missing sleep the night before three important exams.
Some students left campus. But Morrison said he felt it was more dangerous to leave and potentially end up being trapped on a narrow roadway.
“The people that left 11 p.m. or midnight, I understand they wanted to get out,” Morrison said. “But anytime past that, the fire was so close that it was not worth even risking leaving and getting caught up in traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway with fire all around you.”
Pepperdine staff handed out masks to students to protect themselves from the smoke. Firetrucks descended on the campus to fight the flames. And as the fire approached, some of those looking out the windows of the library became agitated.
Video posted on Pepperdine Graphic Media showed students pacing inside a campus building as they watched flames lash the trees outside. Some students on the campus questioned the university policy.
“Don’t leave,” a voice pleads in the video as students, clearly agitated, debate their options.
“Just seeing the flames grow and seeing that bright red color of fire just get brighter and brighter and brighter, it was so scary,” Gabrielle Salgado, a senior and journalism major, told KABC-TV.
“A lot of people were asking: ‘Why are we here?’” said Henry Adams, a student and journalist at Pepperdine Graphic, who followed the news from off campus. Some students, Adams said, may not have understood why Pepperdine had developed a shelter-in-place policy.
“Maybe that could be communicated more effectively,” Adams said, “so students … understand that there is a reason why this is the protocol.”
Pepperdine developed its stay-in-place policy after the 1985 Piuma fire caused students to flee their dorms. Officials figured it was safer to build fire-resistant buildings than evacuate thousands of people quickly on Malibu’s narrow roads. Buildings on the 830-acre campus are now constructed with fire-resistant materials whenever possible, and brush is cleared at least 200 feet away from buildings.
Over the last 30 years, Pepperdine students have sheltered in place as a succession of fires have broken out, from Old Topanga in 1993 to Woolsey in 2018. During the latter inferno, which destroyed 1,600 structures from Westlake Village to Malibu, the school’s policy was questioned and criticized. Some students expressed anxiety about remaining on campus. Meanwhile, some community members complained the university’s shelter-in place-policy caused firefighting resources to be diverted from other parts of Malibu.
By around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, the school said, the worst of the Franklin fire had pushed past the Malibu campus. Smaller spot fires continued to burn, the university noted, but none were threatening buildings or lives.
At around 7:30 a.m., officials lifted the shelter-in-place protocol and encouraged students to return to their residence halls. With spot fires continuing to flare up, officials urged students and staff to remain on campus.
Classes were canceled Tuesday, and final exams were postponed. University officials said in a news release they were actively monitoring conditions on and around campus, but there had been little damage to campus structures and no reports of injuries among students, faculty or staff.
“The safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff remain our highest priorities, and we will do everything in our power to continue to support them in the days ahead,” said Pepperdine President Jim Gash in statement. “As we emerge from this challenge, we will remain rooted in faith, leaning on one another, and serving our Malibu community together with God’s help.”
Late Tuesday afternoon, as power remained out, the university reinstated its shelter-in-place protocol, announcing on X that it was requiring students on campus to hunker in the library or campus center at 4:30 p.m. for the duration of the night.
After walking across campus Tuesday, Morrison said the usually lush green campus was burned black and brown, with lots of downed palm trees. Most students were shell-shocked and worried about when they would take their finals.
Morrison said he was supposed to take three exams Tuesday — religion, acting and scenic design — and he could not take them Wednesday as he was scheduled to fly home to Texas for the holidays.
“I think I’m still in shock right now,” Morrison said after a morning nap.
“When I got in my bed and tried to sleep, it all immediately hit me,” he said. “Last night was one of those moments, I didn’t know if I would see my family again.”
