MALIBU, CALIFORNIA — A fire continued to spread Wednesday in Malibu, a posh Californian city popular with celebrities, where thousands of people were evacuated as firefighters battled wind-fanned flames to save threatened homes.
About 4,000 acres and at least seven properties, authorities said, have gone up in smoke since the Franklin Fire broke out Monday night on the hills above Pepperdine University.
As of Wednesday morning, firefighters had contained the fire by 7%, firefighters said.
The fire's intensity has decreased to the east and north, but the flames have strengthened to the west overnight, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday, warning that the area is not out of danger.
"Weather conditions, including strong winds and low humidity, will be closely monitored today as they play a key role in the evolution of the fire," he told reporters.
The resulting red alert should be maintained for a good part of the day, estimates the local official.
About 20,000 people were under evacuation orders or alerts Tuesday asking them to prepare to evacuate, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Among the evacuees was former movie star Dick Van Dyke, 99, best known for his role in Mary Poppins (1964): "Arlene [his wife] and I have safely evacuated our animals, except for one cat that escaped as we were leaving. We pray that he will survive and that our community will survive these terrible fires," he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
More than 1,500 firefighters are battling the blaze, supported by a fleet of water-bombing aircraft.
After two rainy winters that gave it a relative respite, California is experiencing a very active fire season this year. In July through August, the state suffered the fourth largest fire in its history.
Scientists believe that increasingly intense heat waves and droughts are fueling forest fires and are consequences of climate change.
