MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Weather conditions were forecast to improve in Southern California this week, helping firefighters battle a wind-driven wildfire that has forced up to 20,000 people – including artists Cher, Dick Van Dyke and his wife – from their homes.
Residents who received evacuation orders and warnings Tuesday waited anxiously to see if their properties had been spared by the so-called Franklin Fire, which broke out late Monday and grew to more than 2,800 acres in less than 24 hours.
The National Weather Service said late Tuesday that the strongest Santa Ana winds, with gusts up to 40 miles per hour, have passed. The infamous Santa Ana winds They are destructive, dry gusts that blow from inland to the coast and push back the moist sea breeze.
Although the weather was expected to improve, forecasters said gusty winds will continue throughout Wednesday morning, especially in the mountains, and critical fire conditions remain.
Much of the destruction took place in Malibu, a community of about 10,000 people on the western edge of Los Angeles known for its stunning scenery of coastal cliffs and Zuma Beach, featured in Hollywood films. Flames burned near coastal celebrity homes, horse farms and Pepperdine University, where approximately 3,000 students attend were forced to take shelter on campus. Many evacuated their dormitories to the library through smoke and ash as flames roared in the nearby canyon.
It was not immediately known how the fire started. Anthony C. Marrone, chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said a preliminary aerial assessment showed seven buildings destroyed and eight damaged.
“This has been a traumatic 20 hours for the city of Malibu,” Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart said. Malibu City Hall was in the path of the fire, so officials had to move to nearby Calabasas as a base for emergency operations, he continued.
Malibu has seen many major fires, and there is now a well-known cycle of charring once-lush vegetation.
“It is burning, it is growing back, and we are resilient and strong,” the mayor said.
Van Dyke, one of several celebrities with homes in Malibu, said he and his wife, Arlene Silver, were evacuated when the fire broke out. The actor turns 99 on Friday. “Arlene and I evacuated safely with our animals, except Bobo escaped as we were leaving,” Van Dyke said, referring to one of their cats. “We pray that he is well and that our community at Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires.”
Cher was ordered evacuated from her Malibu home and is staying in a hotel, her publicist Liz Rosenberg said late Tuesday.
The fire broke out shortly before 11 p.m. Monday and moved quickly south, jumping the famed Pacific Coast Highway and stretching 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.
Power for approximately 40,000 customers was closed on Monday eveningincluding 11,000 in LA County, as well as Edison in Southern California worked to mitigate the consequences of the Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage electrical equipment and start wildfires. Gabriela Ornelas, a spokesperson for Edison, said power was shut off to most customers in Malibu around 6 or 7 p.m. Monday.
The Woolsey fire that tore through Malibu in 2018, killing three people and destroying 1,600 homes, was fueled by Edison equipment.
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Although Malibu is known for its celebrities and ultra-wealthy residents, Kasey Earnest, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu, said Tuesday that she is particularly concerned about the lower- and middle-class families, ranchers and farmers who make up the community. , at.
“I call these residents the heart of Malibu,” she said. “They’re just normal families; no one lands a helicopter on their property.”
Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Amy Taxin in Orange County, California; Gabriela Aoun in San Diego; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; contributed to this report.