Malibu residents flee the Franklin fire as Pepperdine students stay in the area

A fast-moving wildfire was spreading rapidly Tuesday morning in Malibu, prompting nearby Pepperdine University to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order as firefighters struggled to battle the blaze.

Called the Franklin fire, the fire was reported just before 11 p.m. on Malibu Canyon Road and north of Francisco Ranch Road in the mountains north of Pepperdine. The fire, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, burned about 100 acres just before midnight but was moving at a dangerous rate, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Aerial footage from local news stations early Tuesday showed flames engulfing hillsides as palm trees were blown over by strong winds. The National Weather Service reported sustained winds of up to 45 mph and gusts of up to 65 mph. The cause of the fire was not yet clear.

“All members of the public on the Malibu campus have been directed to shelter in place at the Tyler Campus Center or the Payson Library,” Pepperdine shared with X at 1:09 p.m. Tuesday.

A five-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway has been ordered to be closed east of Corral Canyon Road and west of Carbon Canyon Road, the city of Malibu said on social media.

The LA County Emergency Operations Center has opened its emergency website for the Franklin fire. As of 1 a.m., the mandatory evacuation had expanded to include a significant portion of Malibu – from the hills to the beach – including Malibu Village Mall and Malibu City Hall, as well as homes on Malibu Road and Malibu Colony Road.

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders for the following areas:

• South of Piuma Road
• North of the Pacific Coast Highway
• East of Las Virgenes Road and Malibu Road
• West of Carbon Beach Terrace

Exit warnings include the following:

• East of Las Virgenes between Mulholland Highway to the north and Piuma Road to the south
• Between Stunt Road to the north and Las Flores to the south
• East of Carbon Beach Terrace, west of Old Malibu Road, north of PCH to the exit ramp

At around 01:00 on Tuesday, local media reported that the fire had moved to the Serra Retreat area and was threatening buildings. The community is approximately three-fifths of a mile northwest of the Malibu Pier and two-thirds of a mile northeast of the Malibu Village Mall. There are hostels in addition to a Catholic retreat center and a conference center noted for its views.

The National Weather Service has issued an “Extremely Hazardous Condition” red flag warning for much of Los Angeles and Ventura, which will remain in place until Tuesday afternoon. Gusts of up to 80 mph are possible, and relative humidity is forecast to be alarmingly low, while vegetation is extremely dry.

The National Weather Service said that in the Franklin fire area, strong and dangerous winds from the north and northeast are expected to attack early Tuesday, until they end Tuesday morning.

Relative humidity levels were as low as 9% just before midnight.

This is the second time this fire season the weather service has issued a red flag warning of a Special Dangerous Situation. The last time the warning was issued was on November 5, and a day later, the Mountain fire burned in Ventura County and, driven by strong winds, destroyed more than 240 structures. It was the third most destructive wildfire in Southern California since 2013.

Santa Ana's dry, strong winds are driven by a system of high pressure structures in the Great Basin, which sends broken air down canyons and mountain ranges to the coast, where there is low pressure.

Malibu and the neighboring communities of Thousand Oaks, Oak Park and Agoura Hills saw significant damage from the 2018 Woolsey fire, which destroyed more than 1,600 structures and burned 97,000 acres.

This story will be updated.