Fanned by gusting winds, the Franklin fire burns a destructive path through Malibu

The Franklin fire had extended to nearly 4,000 acres and was just 7% contained Wednesday morning, according to Cal Fire.

Fire officials say that at least seven structures were destroyed. Photos from space show the extent of the damage and the areas affected.

The students huddling in Pepperdine University’s library watched through the windows as flames crested the Santa Monica Mountains.

Some students prayed. Others called their parents as the wind blew embers across campus, setting palm trees on fire and drawing orange flames closer and closer to their building.

A few wondered out loud, when they were told to stay away from the windows, whether they had made a fateful mistake in not leaving campus.

Two chimneys and a torn brick wall are all that remain of a six-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Serra Retreat in Malibu. Authorities are still assessing the number of structures destroyed by the Franklin fire.

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Home destroyed in Serra Retreat

Past the security gates of the Serra Retreat area of Malibu sits a small enclave of luxury homes, many of them gated or enclosed with walls.

The area is home to celebrities such as Patrick Dempsey and, at one time, Mel Gibson.

The conditions late Monday were primed for an explosive wildfire.

Forecasters had issued a rare, particularly dangerous fire weather warning across much of Southern California, as strong Santa Ana winds were expected to further dry an already parched landscape.

The Franklin fire in Malibu Canyon continues to grow, crossing Pacific Coast Highway and spreading to more than 1,800 acres Tuesday, burning in the hillsides near Pepperdine University.

The fire was reported a little before 11 p.m. Monday. A high volume of dry brush in the area and strong Santa Ana winds led to the potential for the blaze to continue to spread rapidly.

At Malibu Bluffs Park at the end of Malibu Canyon, the Franklin fire reached the ocean.

The fire jumped Pacific Coast Highway, charring the trees and baseball outfields.

This is a hallmark of Malibu fires, where the Santa Ana wind push flames over the mountains and hillside and down to the beach.

When James Perry, 42, got the first emergency notification of the Franklin fire at 11:45 p.m. Monday, he and his wife were already packing up their belongings.

The couple had already received an email from their 5-year-old’s school, the Sycamore School, just down the road from their Los Flores home, letting them know that the grounds would be closed as a precautionary measure due to the fire.

Cellphone service was proving a challenge in Malibu, where the Franklin fire was burning Tuesday.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the fire burned some cell towers in the area, affecting service. It is unclear the scope of the outage, but people in the area reported trouble making calls.

Jessica Jones and Matthew Ryder grabbed their essentials before the Franklin fire made its way to their home in Serra Retreat.

Important documents. Bags of clothes. Three goats. A potbellied pig.

An extreme wind event has prompted Southern California Edison to shut off power to tens of thousands of customers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and the Inland Empire. The map below shows which areas are currently without electricity and which are under warning for further outages.

Officials at the National Weather Service issued a rare “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning to last through 2 p.m. Tuesday in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. A regular red flag warning is expected to last through Wednesday afternoon.

At around the time the fire ignited, there were gusts of up to 65 mph reported. By around 3:30 a.m., the winds were weakening slightly, with gusts in the 40-mph range, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall.

Hall said patterns seen in past Santa Ana wind events “suggest winds should ramp up around daybreak,” which occurs around 6:50 a.m.

Relative humidity Tuesday morning was less than 5% in the area of the fire — extraordinarily dry.

Tuesday forecast

• The Particularly Dangerous Situation fire warning is in effect through Tuesday at 2 p.m.
  
• The red flag fire warning is in effect through Wednesday afternoon.
  
• The Franklin fire has burned at least 1,800 acres.
  
• The eastern half of Malibu was ordered evacuated, and the rest of the city was under an evacuation warning. Some 6,000 people live in the area ordered evacuated, firefighters said — most of the city’s population of about 11,000 residents. About 2,000 structures are affected by the mandatory evacuation order. Pepperdine University has asked people on campus to shelter in place.

In the hills above Malibu City Hall, Bruce Silverstein was at home Monday night when he smelled smoke in the air.

It was around 11 p.m., and the City Council member and his wife then received an alert about the wind-driven fire that would soon roar across the Malibu hills, spurring widespread evacuations.

The sky at the top of their driveway grew a brighter and brighter shade of red.

By 11:20 p.m., flames from the Franklin fire were licking the hillside, and the couple had packed their bags to flee. They had driven five miles on Pacific Coast Highway toward Santa Monica when the mandatory evacuation alert was issued. The couple pressed on.

From a hotel room in Santa Monica, Silverstein toggled between watching TV news and the Ring cameras stationed around his home as the fire gradually encircled his property through the night.

“This is surreal,” Silverstein said in an early morning interview. “My wife just said there was a water drop on our house.”

Evacuation order

• Much of Central Malibu, affecting 6,000 people
  
• Tuna Creek to Carbon Beach
  
• Carbon Beach to Puerco Canyon
  
• Approximately Puerco Canyon to Trancas Canyon.

Evacuation warning

• Many other parts of Malibu
  

Closures

• A six-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway was ordered closed east of Corral Canyon Road and west of Las Flores Canyon Road, the city of Malibu said. Las Virgenes Road, which continues as Malibu Canyon Road on the way to the coast, is closed south of Mulholland Highway all the way to Pacific Coast Highway, a six-mile stretch of road, the city added.
  
• Pepperdine University closed, students sheltering in place.
  
• Malibu schools are closed.

Evacuation centers

• Palisades Recreation Center at 851 Alma Real Dr. has been upgraded to an evacuation center, accepting pets in carriers or crates.
  
• Large animal shelter available at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.