Firefighters make progress containing Malibu wildfire but Santa Ana winds are expected next week
All mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted in Malibu as cooler temperatures, rising humidity and gentler winds helped firefighters boost containment on the Franklin fire.
This positive turn of events allowed residents to breathe a sigh of relief after having braced for the worst when the fire ignited amid fierce winds Monday night. Although the Franklin fire has scorched about 4,000 acres, it pales in comparison to the devastation of the nearly 97,000-acre Woolsey fire in 2018, which still looms large in many residents’ minds.
“We’ve had a lot of good success in continuing to march forward on our containment of this incident,” Dusty Martin, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident commander, said in a Friday community update. “Today, we were able to repopulate residents back into their homes and start to bring some of that normalcy back to the community.”
The fire was 38% contained as of Saturday evening . So far, 19 structures have been confirmed destroyed and an additional 23 damaged, officials said. Eight of the buildings destroyed were homes.
Improving weather conditions also allowed all sections of Pacific Coast Highway to reopen Friday. A hard closure remains in effect on Malibu Canyon Road from Civic Center Way to Piuma Road, while several canyon roads north of PCH are also closed to nonresidents.
But Malibu is not in the clear yet, officials warned.
The region is expecting another, more moderate, round of Santa Ana winds Tuesday through Thursday, said Rich Thompson, incident meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Forecasts show those winds blowing offshore and gusting at 30 to 50 mph next week. He said he also expects humidity to drop into the teens and single digits in some areas.
“So, overall, it’s going to be very dry and pretty breezy out there,” Thompson said Saturday evening.
Rugged terrain continues to pose a challenge for fire crews trying to access steep mountainous areas, Martin said. With the expected wind gusts and low humidity, “we still have some potential for this fire to get up and move,” he said.
“We’re going to remain vigilant and continue working until all those heat sources have been extinguished,” Martin said.
At the fire’s peak, about 20,000 residents were under evacuation orders or warnings.
Malibu is one of the most fire-prone parts of Southern California, often in the path of Santa Ana winds that drive blazes marching to the Pacific Ocean. But this time, the oceanside city appears to have caught a break.
At the start of the week, most of Los Angeles was under a rare ‘particularly dangerous’ fire warning due to the combination of Santa Ana winds and critically low humidity levels. By Friday, wind speeds in Malibu had dropped to about 10 mph, while humidity rates had rebounded to 70%, according to the weather service.
“As we shift from response to recovery following the Franklin fire, I want to acknowledge how challenging this time has been for our community,” Malibu City Councilwoman Marianne Riggins said Friday evening. “Many of you have faced uncertainty, displacement and loss, and yet, Malibu’s resilience and strength have shown through.”
By this time of year, Southern California has usually had some measurable rainfall and Santa Ana winds have typically died down. This year, neither is the case.
Malibu Elementary, Middle and High schools will reopen Monday. Cleaning and HVAC filter replacements will take place over the weekend at all three campuses.
Webster Elementary School sustained more severe smoke damage and will remain closed until Jan. 6 to allow time for restoration. Starting Tuesday, Webster students will relocate to Malibu Elementary School for the rest of the semester.
The students huddling in Pepperdine University’s library watched through the windows as flames crested the Santa Monica Mountains.
At Pepperdine University, where students sheltered in place as the fire raged, normal operations will resume Monday.
The city of Malibu plans to reopen City Hall on Wednesday and host a community meeting at 6 p.m. that day to provide updates, hear resident concerns and share additional recovery resources.
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