Malibu residents fled their homes in the middle of the night on Dec. 9, as a wildfire blazed out of control, fueled by strong winds and forcing thousands to evacuate.
The Franklin Fire started just before 11 p.m. Monday on Malibu Canyon Road near Malibu Creek State Park, according to California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
By Tuesday afternoon, the fire had grown to cover more than 2,700 acres, or more than 4 square miles, according to Cal Fire.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said ground crews and firefighting aircraft were expected to continue fighting the wildfire throughout the day Tuesday.
“We’d really like to button this fire up and get some containment by this afternoon,” Marrone said during a morning news conference.
About 18,000 people live in the area around the fire’s location and 8,100 homes were affected. Of those, 2,043 homes or buildings were under evacuation orders, while 6,046 were under warnings, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
More than 150 sheriff’s personnel and other first responders were in the area, including Malibu’s search and rescue team, to help with the fire. The responders were assisting in closing roads and patrolling evacuated neighborhoods for security purposes, Luna said.
Sheriff’s deputies began evacuating residents and issuing warnings a little after midnight on Dec. 10, affecting areas from Trancas Canyon Road west to Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and south of Mulholland Highway to Pacific Coast Highway, he said.
Several roads were closed Tuesday, according to the sheriff, including Las Virgenes Road at Mulholland Highway, and Pacific Coast Highway between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Kanan Dune Road.
Some 800 students at Pepperdine University, located in Malibu, were required to shelter in place early Tuesday morning in the school’s Payson Library and Tyler Campus Center. The shelter-in-place requirement was lifted shortly after 7:00 a.m. although the campus was still without power, according to Pepperdine’s website.
Malibu also closed all four schools on Tuesday because of the fire, high winds, and power outages, according to the school district’s Facebook page.
At least 700 firefighting personnel were attacking the fire but had not reached any containment by Tuesday afternoon, according to Marrone.
Fire officials expected that number to rise to possibly 1,000 firefighters because of the difficult terrain in the area and another expected blast of Santa Ana winds later in the day.
Firefighters were helped by several aircraft and helicopters throughout the night, Marrone said.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department is urging residents in the fire area to turn off their sprinklers.
“That water should be used for firefighting and not to sprinkle or irrigate your lawns,” Marrone said. “It’s going to be of little use” in preventing a brush fire from starting near a home, he said.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation on Tuesday, Cal Fire reported.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service predicted “widespread critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions” in many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Wednesday.
“Fire officials and first responders are working relentlessly to protect lives and property from the Franklin Fire,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is grateful for this federal support, which bolsters these efforts.”
The governor urged residents affected by the fire to “stay alert and follow evacuation orders.”
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) issued a smoke advisory for the fire Tuesday, alerting residents in the region to be aware of the harmful effects of smoke from the Franklin wildfire.
“Even in areas far from fires or areas not covered by a smoke advisory, if you can smell smoke or see ash from a wildfire, avoid or limit outdoor activities,” the agency wrote in its alert.
An evacuation shelter was opened for Malibu residents at Palisades Recreation Center, 851 Alma Real Drive in Pacific Palisades. Pets in crates were welcome, according to Cal Fire.
That center was expected to move around 3 p.m. on Tuesday to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Professional Development and Learning Center building at 2828 4th Street in Santa Monica.
Small animals were also able to shelter at the Agoura Animal Care Center in Agoura Hills. Pierce College in Woodland Hills was also taking in large animals evacuated from the fire.
