OAN Staff James Meyers
7:54 AM – Tuesday, December 10, 2024
A massive and fast-moving brush fire in Malibu, California, has caused officials to issue mandatory evacuation orders as firefighters look to put out the blaze.
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The three-alarm blaze, being called the “Franklin Fire,” was first reported around 10:45 p.m. on Monday night near Malibu Canyon Road which is located near Pepperdine University. A mandatory shelter-in-place order is currently in place.
As of 3:47 a.m. local time (6:47 a.m. ET), it had spread to 1,822 acres with 0% containment, moving across the Pacific Coast Highway and impacting structures.
Videos posted on X show students taking shelter inside a library as smothering flames and smoke are seen.
“Despite any evacuation orders from Malibu city or surrounding areas, the University community should follow University instructions,” Pepperdine University wrote on social media.
“We do not evacuate the campus even when surrounding areas might – this shelter-in-place protocol is approved by LA County Fire and executed with their cooperation.”
“Very stressful seeing flames outside … we were so scared,” she said. “Power is out … the wind was so strong. I knew it was dangerous,” student Gaby Salgado, who is sheltering in place in the university’s library, told Fox Weather.
Meanwhile, the fire erupted as 12 million are under red flag warnings in Southern California from San Luis Obispo down to San Diego due to high Santa Ana winds, low humidity and dry vegetation, making conditions ripe for dangerous wildfires. Additionally, wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph are in play along with the risk of downed trees and power outages.
The raging fire has already swept across 1,674 acres with zero containment, and hundreds of structures are at risk of being engulfed by flames, Cal Fire reported on Tuesday morning.
“Mandatory evacuation orders are in order east of Malibu Canyon Rd and South of Piuma Rd. as well as the Serra Retreat area,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post.
Furthermore, a mandatory evacuation order has been issued for Malibu Pier, Malibu Village Mall, and City Hall as of 1:45 a.m. PTD due to the “immediate threat of life.”
As a result, officials have shut down a five-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway from Carbon Cyn to Corral Cyn. Most of the city still has no power with no sign of when it will return.
On Monday night, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department went door-to-door in Malibu, using loudspeakers urging residents to evacuate.
Officials have not yet revealed the cause of the fire.
The National Weather Service reported winds of up to 45 mph and gusts of up to 65 mph in the area.
The organization also issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning for multiple areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
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