NATIONAL AND US NEWS FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Southern California forecast of cool temps, calm winds to help firefighters battle Malibu blaze

Dec 11, 2024, 10:23 PM | Updated: Dec 12, 2024, 6:30 pm

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Cooler temperatures, calmer winds and a chance of rainfall in Southern California this week are forecast to help firefighters as they battle a wind-driven blaze in steep, rugged terrain that’s driven thousands, including celebrities, from their homes in Malibu.

The weather improved so much Wednesday that meteorologists said all red flag warnings, which indicate conditions for high fire danger and the notorious Santa Ana winds, were discontinued. The conditions allowed firefighters to have “a lot of success” despite the nearly inaccessible terrain, CalFire Assistant Chief Dusty Martin said.

Still, some 20,000 residents remained under evacuation orders and warnings Wednesday evening from the blaze, dubbed the Franklin Fire, which was only 7% contained over 6 square miles (16 square kilometers).

It’s unclear how the blaze started. Officials said nine structures had been destroyed and at least six others had been damaged, though crews had only surveyed about 25% of the affected area, said Deputy Chief Albert Yanagisawa of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Much of the devastation occurred in Malibu, a community of about 10,000 people on the western edge of Los Angeles known for its stunning bluffs and Zuma Beach, which features in many Hollywood films.

Flames burned near horse farms, celebrities’ seaside mansions, and Pepperdine University, where students were forced to shelter in place on campus for a second night Tuesday.

Faculty members are determining how best to complete the semester, which ends at Pepperdine this week. Final exams were postponed or canceled, depending on the class, university spokesperson Michael Friel said. An early analysis showed little to no damage to structures on campus, the university said.

Lonnie Vidaurri’s four-bedroom home in the Malibu Knolls neighborhood is one of those destroyed. After evacuating to a hotel in Santa Monica with his wife and two young daughters, a neighbor called to tell Vidaurri that firefighters would need to break into his house.

“It’s pretty torched all around,” Vidaurri said. He expects that the family’s pet bunnies did not survive the fire, and that they lost most of their things. “My girls cried, obviously, but it could have been worse.”

Mimi Teller, a Red Cross spokesperson who worked in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, said many people arrived in their pajamas and were “definitely in shock.”

“Nobody even had a backpack, it was, ‘Get out now,’” Teller said. “One lady didn’t even have a leash for her dog, she just scooped them up.”

Shawn Smith said he was asleep early Tuesday when someone knocked on his RV at 3 a.m. to wake him up to evacuate the Malibu RV Park.

“You could see the fires rolling in, in over the canyon,” he said. “It was like ‘Holy crap, this is real.’”

He returned Wednesday to find that the RV park had been saved — firefighters stopped the flames just before they entered the area.

“We got lucky,” he said.

Dick Van Dyke, one of many celebrities with homes in Malibu, said in a Facebook post that he and his wife, Arlene Silver, evacuated as the fire swept in. And Cher evacuated from her Malibu home when ordered and is staying at a hotel, her publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said Tuesday.

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. It was propelled by Santa Ana winds, with gusts that reached 40 mph (64 kph). Santa Anas are notorious seasonal winds that blow dry air from the interior toward the coast, pushing back moist ocean breezes.

Alec Gellis stayed behind Monday night to save his home in Malibu’s Serra Retreat neighborhood from the flames. He used pumps in the home’s swimming pool to help spray water over the house and surrounding vegetation, turning the lush area “into a rainforest.”

Gellis said there were flames within 5 feet (1.5 meters) of the home on all sides. “The whole canyon was completely lit up.”

Utilities preemptively shut off power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses, starting Monday night, to mitigate the impacts of the Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires.

As of Wednesday afternoon, electricity was still out for roughly 600 Southern California Edison customers, and the majority of those were in Los Angeles County, said utility spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas.

“We have been making significant progress,” she said.

Outages in Malibu were not included in that figure, Ornelas said. Some 3,300 customers in the Malibu area remained without power, due to safety shutoffs and for firefighter safety. Power was first shut off to most customers in Malibu on Monday evening.

The Woolsey Fire that roared through the area in 2018, killing three people and destroying 1,600 homes, was sparked by Edison equipment. Asked Wednesday if Edison equipment was involved in the Franklin Fire, Ornelas referred all questions regarding the cause to fire officials.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles and Aoun reported from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Amy Taxin in Orange County, California; Sarah Brumfield in Washington; and Eric Thayer, Damian Dovarganes and Jaimie Ding in Malibu, California, contributed to this report.

National and US News from the Associated Press

FILE - This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and I...

Associated Press

New York temporarily shutters bird markets after seven cases of avian flu are detected in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — New York on Friday ordered a weeklong shutdown of all live bird markets in New York City, Westchester and Long Island after seven cases of avian flu were detected at bird markets in the city. Gov. Kathy Hochul said there is no immediate threat to public health and that the temporary […]

32 minutes ago

Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they dis...

Associated Press

Forced leaves start for thousands at USAID under a Trump plan to gut the foreign aid agency

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forced leaves began in Washington and worldwide Friday for most employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as federal workers associations turned to the courts to try to roll back Trump administration orders that have dismantled most of the agency and U.S.- funded aid programs around the world. Under a Trump […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

The Latest: US allies in Europe join ICC against Trump’s sanctions over Israel

The International Criminal Court on Friday called on its member states to stand up against sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump, saying that the move was an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.” And the embattled court got plenty of support from traditional U.S. allies in Europe who stood up against the […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

2 dead, 3 injured in weather event with ‘possible tornado,’ officials in Tennessee say

WARTBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Two people were killed in eastern Tennessee when severe storms with a possible tornado moved through the region. Local officials announced Friday morning that a mother and daughter from the same household were killed when the storm passed through the Deer Lodge and Sunbright areas of Morgan County on Thursday night. […]

2 hours ago

Tim Andrews smiles as he leaves Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Feb. 1, 2025. (Kate Flo...

Associated Press

New Hampshire man is 2nd person known to be living with a pig kidney

A New Hampshire man fought for the chance at a pig kidney transplant, spending months getting into good enough shape to be part of a small pilot study of a highly experimental treatment. His effort paid off: Tim Andrews, 66, is only the second person known to be living with a pig kidney. Andrews is […]

2 hours ago

Rev. Esteban Rodriguez, who leads Centro Cristiano El Pan de Vida, prays for congregants during a c...

Associated Press

Latino evangelical churches gear up to face possible immigration enforcement in churches

Bishop Ebli De La Rosa says his motto right now is “to prepare for the worst and pray for the best.” De La Rosa, who oversees Church of God of Prophecy congregations in nine southeastern states, says he has had to respond quickly to the Trump administration’s new orders, which have thrown out policies that […]

2 hours ago

Southern California forecast of cool temps, calm winds to help firefighters battle Malibu blaze