MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Southern California are fighting a wind-driven wildfire that has forced up to 20,000 people, including performers Cher, Dick Van Dyke, and his wife, from their homes. This week, the weather is expected to improve.
The so-called Franklin Fire began late Monday and spread to more than 2,800 acres (1,133 hectares) in less than 24 hours, leaving residents under evacuation orders and warnings to wait anxiously on Tuesday to learn if their properties had been saved.
The greatest Santa Ana winds, with gusts as high as 40 mph (64 kph), had gone, according to the National Weather Service late Tuesday. Moist ocean breezes are pushed back by the famous Santa Ana winds, which are withering, dry gusts that blow out from the inland toward the shore.
Forecasters predicted that hazardous fire conditions would persist and that strong winds would persist through Wednesday morning, particularly in the highlands, despite the fact that the weather was supposed to improve.
A large portion of the destruction took place in Malibu, a 10,000-person enclave on the western outskirts of Los Angeles that is well-known for its breathtaking views of the coastline bluffs and Zuma Beach, which has been featured in Hollywood productions. Near celebrity homes, horse farms, and Pepperdine University, where some 3,000 students were compelled to take cover on campus, flames raged. As flames erupted in the surrounding canyon, several people fled their rooms to the library amid smoke and ash.
The cause of the fire was first unknown. According to a preliminary aerial assessment, seven structures were destroyed and eight were damaged, according to Anthony C. Marrone, chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
According to Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart, the past 20 hours have been a horrible experience for the city. He added that officials had to go to nearby Calabasas as a headquarters for emergency operations because the Malibu City Hall was in the path of the fire.
Malibu has seen numerous large fires, and the once-luxuriant flora is now burnt in a recurring pattern.
According to the mayor, “it burns, it grows back, and we’re resilient and strong.”
As the fire spread, Van Dyke, one of the numerous famous people who own houses in Malibu, stated he and his wife, Arlene Silver, had left. On Friday, the actor turns 99. Arlene and I have safely evacuated with our animals except for Bobo escaped as we were leaving, said Van Dyke, referring to one of their cats. We’re hoping he’ll be alright and that our Serra Retreat community will make it through these awful flames.
Late Tuesday, Cher’s spokesperson Liz Rosenberg announced that Cher had been ordered to leave her Malibu home and was now sleeping at a hotel.
The fire erupted shortly before 11 p.m. Monday and swiftly moved south, jumping over the famous Pacific Coast Highway and extending 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 to about 40,000 customershad been shut off by Monday night, including 11,000 in LA County, as Southern California Edisonworked to mitigate the impactsof the Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires. Gabriela Ornelas, an Edison spokesperson, said service power was shut off to most customers in Malibu around 6 or 7 p.m. on Monday.
TheWoolsey Firethat roared through Malibu in 2018, killing three people and destroying 1,600 homes, was sparked by Edison equipment.
While Malibu is known for its celebrity and uber-wealthy residents, Kasey Earnest, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu said Tuesday that she s especially concerned about the lower- and middle-class families, ranchers and farmers who make up the community, too.
I refer to those residents as the heart of Malibu, she said. They re just normal families nobody s landing 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.
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