Celebrities and coastal residents flee from wind-driven wildfire in Malibu

MALIBU, Calif. -

Evacuation orders and warnings have gone out to 20,000 Southern California residents Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu that burned near celebrities' seaside mansions, horse farms and Pepperdine University, the sheriff's department said.

The “stubborn fire” is zero per cent contained and has drawn some 1,500 firefighters, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony C. Marrone said at a news conference Tuesday night. He said a preliminary aerial assessment estimates that seven structures were destroyed and eight structures damaged.

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• IN PICTURES: Fast-moving wildfire explodes in Malibu, Calif.

The blaze has grown to more than 2,800 acres (1,133 hectares) — 600 acres (243 hectares) alone on Tuesday, according to Marrone.

"This has been a traumatic 20 hours for the city of Malibu,” said Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart. The Malibu City Hall was in the fire’s path, so officials had to relocate to nearby Calabasas as a base for emergency operations, he continued.

Many major fires have burned in Malibu, and there's now a familiar cycle where once-lush vegetation is charred.

“It burns, it grows back, and we’re resilient and strong,” the mayor said.

The Santa Ana winds had gusts that reached 40 mph (64 kph) and made for erratic fire conditions.

Capt. Jennifer Seetoo of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said at a news conference Tuesday night that roughly 20,000 residents are under evacuation orders and warnings. Several shelters have been opened for displaced residents, she said.

Abigail Ballhagen and Bethany Kronlund, who are Pepperdine juniors and co-resident assistants, said evacuating other students from the dorms to the school's library late Monday amid the fire’s smoke and encroaching flames was terrifying. Some 3,000 students sheltered in place on campus.

“Ash was everywhere, embers were everywhere,” Kronlund said.

Ballhagen added: “It felt super apocalyptic.”

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. The school cancelled classes and final exams for Tuesday.

It was not immediately known how the blaze, named the Franklin Fire, started. It tore through part of Malibu, a community of about 10,000 people on the western edge of Los Angeles renowned for its stunning scenery of seaside bluffs and Zuma Beach featured in Hollywood films.

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.

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Dick 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. “We’re praying he’ll be OK and that our community in Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires.”

By Tuesday afternoon, meteorologists said the strongest winds had passed but danger remained — especially in the mountains — through Wednesday.

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.”

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.

While Malibu is known for its celebrity and uber-wealthy residents, Kasey Earnest, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu said Tuesday that she's 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.”

Associated Press journalists Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Amy Taxin in Orange County, Calif.; Gabriela Aoun in San Diego; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; contributed to this report.