A fire that has burned homes in Malibu and forced thousands to evacuate continued to menace the city Wednesday as firefighters battled windy conditions to gain control over the inferno.
Although winds eased throughout the day, firefighters were preparing to grapple with an expected change in wind direction Thursday. The shift threatens to push the blaze in a new direction, through hard-to-access, mountainous terrain.
The Franklin fire has destroyed at least seven homes and damaged nine others since it ignited amid strong Santa Ana winds late Monday. Fire officials say those numbers could grow as inspection teams continue to assess damage.
The blaze, which has charred more than 4,000 acres and was 7% contained as of Wednesday afternoon, burned close to some residential neighborhoods and an RV park overnight, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a morning news conference.
“Crews are working tirelessly around the clock to establish containment lines and defend structures,” Marrone said.
The blaze was reported a few minutes before 11 p.m. Monday along Malibu Canyon Road in the hills north of Pepperdine University and grew quickly, fanned by strong winds and fed by bone-dry vegetation, fire officials said.
Overnight into Wednesday, the fire’s western edge became more active, backing down into Corral Canyon toward the Malibu RV Park community. The fire also spotted across Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu Road, posing a threat to communities in that area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Still, crews improved containment lines by dropping fire retardant and creating more fire breaks along the eastern edge of the blaze, located in rugged terrain.
“It’s a lot of geographical features, like huge drainages that go all the way up,” said Pono Barnes, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “With those topographical features ... all of that wind energy gets focused and channeled and funneled through those drainages where it’s super hard to access by both hand crews and big pieces of equipment.”
Dusty Martin, Cal Fire incident commander, cited that “extremely steep and inaccessible terrain” as a challenge to firefighters trying to gain control over the west side of the fire in the Malibu Canyon area.
Nevertheless, Martin said at a Wednesday evening new conference, slowing winds and improving weather conditions allowed crews “to have a lot of success around the fire” Wednesday. The National Weather Service lifted its red flag alert for the region at 1 p.m.
Winds are expected to continue easing on Thursday, with peak gusts of 15 to 20 mph predicted, Martin said. But the wind direction is forecast to shift — from a north-northeast to a south-southeast wind — bringing with it the potential for the fire to travel in a new direction, he said.
“Today there was a big effort working on securing that [containment] line for the predicted winds that are shifting tomorrow and to make sure we’re prepared for that,” he said.
Crews on the ground have been aided by roughly a dozen aircraft. Helicopters have used 69 Bravo, a privately owned remote base in the Santa Monica Mountains, to refill their water tanks, sucking up about half a million gallons of water over the course of 24 hours, Barnes said.
Almost 2,000 firefighters are battling the fire.
The blaze was moving at a fierce pace, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, and had exploded to over 2,850 acres as of Tuesday afternoon with no containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Humidity, which had been extremely low, is expected to get a boost on Thursday. There’s also a slight chance of rain that could aid firefighters, but winds are expected to pick up by Thursday afternoon, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Around 6,300 residents remained under evacuation orders Wednesday evening.
“I want you to know that we do not take that lightly,” Martin said. “Our team, our unified command, we are working diligently to get the area secured to be able to get people back into their homes.”
Officials said many residents living in the fire’s path are still waiting to hear about the status of their homes. Some spent a second night without power or cell service, using radios to get updates about the fire.
“To our Malibu community, we know you’re hurting,” Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said. “Thank you for checking in on one another. Thank you for remaining vigilant as we get this fire under control. Know that we are working hard to bring safety and normalcy back to Malibu.”
Serra Retreat, a small enclave of luxury properties that’s home to celebrities such as Patrick Dempsey and Dick Van Dyke, was among the neighborhoods besieged by the fire. Pets were killed, and several cars and homes were burned, including a 1971 Spanish Colonial house with six bedrooms on Mariposa de Oro Street.
A short distance away, the destructive fire’s wake was visible at Malibu Pacific Church on Malibu Canyon Road. The building that houses the church’s nursery school was unscathed, but the gate that abuts the hillside was charred, along with some of the school’s equipment.
The blaze was moving at a fierce pace, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, and had exploded to over 2,850 acres as of Tuesday afternoon with no containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Thousands of Southern California Edison customers in the Santa Monica Mountains area remained without power Wednesday, though some neighborhoods were beginning to be restored by the afternoon.
The utility began cutting power in the region amid strong winds Monday evening. Some electricity was cut off for firefighter safety, and other outages were part of widespread public safety power shutoffs — deliberate outages meant to limit the chances that damaged utility equipment could start a fire, said Diane Castro, an Edison spokesperson.
The utility could not say when power would be restored, but Castro said its crews were inspecting circuits for damage and planned to “restore power as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The outages and spotty cellphone service created additional challenges for residents fleeing their homes.
After more than a day spent sheltering in her apartment, Stefanie Moertz, 41, was in desperate need of a few essentials Wednesday, so she ventured out to a nearby store. With an electrolyte drink in hand, Moertz said this was the second day she hadn’t had a cellphone signal, internet access or power, but she wasn’t ready to evacuate.
Although she has a go-bag of “can’t live without” items and her dog leash by the door, Moertz hesitated to flee because of the uncertainty of when residents might be able to return. She was keeping an eye on the winds but felt it was safe to stay since her home was no longer in the path of the fire, she said.
“Yesterday there was a big, red, fiery sky,” Moertz said, “and the wind was blowing in my direction. ... I’m keeping tabs on it.”
A day earlier, Rich Leo was stranded at a gas station on Pacific Coast Highway as spot fires burned around Malibu. He parked his SUV at a Chevron low on gas and flirted with the idea of leaving the area to refuel.
“But I don’t know if I would be able to come back home,” Leo, 79, said as he stood outside the gas station that had no power.
It was only a couple of hours after the fire ignited when firefighters banged on the door to his town home near Winter Canyon Road around 1 a.m. Tuesday, but he refused to leave. He worried about the staff at the nearby Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church and school.
He wanted to stay behind to make sure everyone was OK, he said.
Leo, who has spent more than 40 years living in Malibu, has been through serious fires before, including the deadly Woolsey fire in 2018 that stormed through Malibu, burning all the way to the coast. Although the Woolsey fire was far more destructive — charring more than 1,600 structures — Leo said the Franklin fire’s behavior was erratic.
A rare December Santa Ana wind event has prompted Southern California Edison to shut off power to thousands of customers.
“This one was bad,” he said. “It kept jumping, and wherever I looked, I saw fire last night.”
At the nearby church, a lone parishioner rode into the school on a bicycle. The fire burned right up to the property line and scorched wooden fence posts and vegetation, but firefighters were able to keep the fire from touching the property.
A man who identified himself as Mike walked through the school grounds where the gates were opened and all the water taps were running.
“I just wanted to make sure that everyone was OK and the school was standing,” Mike said. “My kids used to come here when they were little. My house burned down in the Woolsey fire, so I know what it means when this happens.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Laura Campbell was walking with her husband, Michael, around their El Nido neighborhood off Corral Canyon Road listening to fire updates through a walkie-talkie given to them by the volunteer fire brigade.
The blaze overnight had moved dangerously close to the community, but fire crews had been able to fend off the flames. The couple were extremely grateful.
“Our neighbor who is a volunteer firefighter said we really dodged a bullet,” Campbell said.
Times staff writers Ruben Vives and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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