Malibu residents have been affected since Monday night by a formal incident named Franklin, which has left some 20,000 people evacuated, including artists Cher, Dick Van Dyke and his wife.
Improved weather conditions expected this week in Southern California could help firefighters battle a wind-driven wildfire that has forced the evacuation of about 20,000 people, including artists Cher, Dick Van Dyke and his wife, from their homes.
Residents affected by evacuation orders and notices waited anxiously Tuesday to see if their properties had been spared from the so-called Franklin Fire, which started Monday night and covered more than 2,800 acres (1,113 hectares) in less than 24 hours.
The National Weather Service said late Tuesday that the strong Santa Ana winds, with gusts reaching 40 mph (64 kilometers/hour), had passed. These famous winds are dry, scorching gusts that blow from the interior toward the coast, pushing back the humid ocean breeze.
Although improvement is expected, forecasters said gusty winds will continue into Wednesday morning, especially in the mountains, and the fire alert remains.
Much of the devastation was in Malibu, a community of about 10,000 on the western edge of Los Angeles, known for its stunning landscape of seaside cliffs and Zuma Beach, featured in Hollywood movies. The flames approached the coastal mansions of celebrities, horse farms and Pepperdine University, where about 3,000 students had to take shelter on campus. Many were evacuated from their dormitories to the library amid smoke and ash as flames roared in a nearby canyon.
It was not immediately known how the fire started. Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony C. Marrone said a preliminary aerial assessment estimated that seven structures were destroyed and eight others were damaged.
“This has been a traumatic 20 hours for the city of Malibu,” said Mayor Doug Stewart. The city hall building was in the path of the fire, so officials had to move their emergency operations base to nearby Calabasas, he added.
There have been many large fires in Malibu, and there is now a familiar cycle in which the once lush vegetation is charred.
“It burns down, it grows back, and we are resilient and strong,” the mayor said.
Van Dyke, one of many celebrities with homes in Malibu, said he and his wife, Arlene Silver, left as the fire approached. The actor turns 99 on Friday. “Arlene and I have evacuated safely with our animals, except Bobo, who escaped while we were leaving,” Van Dyke said, referring to one of her cats. “We are praying that he is okay and that our community at Serra Retreat survives these terrible fires.”
Cher left her Malibu home when she was told to do so and is staying at a hotel, her publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said Tuesday night.
The fire started shortly before 11 p.m. Monday and moved quickly south, jumping over the famous Pacific Coast Highway and spreading to the ocean, where large homes line the beach and rugged inland canyons are prone to fires. fires. At one point, flames threatened the historic Malibu Pier, but the structure was protected, according to officials.
About 40,000 customers, 11,000 of them in Los Angeles County, experienced power outages Monday night as Southern California Edison worked to mitigate the impacts of the Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage electrical equipment and cause forest fires.