Photo: LACOFD/ Twitter
Parts of Malibu, including the Pier at Surfrider Beach, were put under evacuation orders Monday night and into Tuesday morning when a wildfire spread overnight. The Franklin Fire reportedly began around 11 pm near Malibu Canyon Road on Monday evening and strong Santa Ana winds fueled its spread to more than 2,200 acres. As of midday Tuesday, it was 0 percent contained, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. At one point, the fire reportedly jumped the Pacific Coast Highway near the Malibu Pier.
Various cameras that stream conditions at the famed surf spot for surf forecast websites were still offline at the time of this publishing.
“A strong, widespread, and long duration Santa Ana Event will bring widespread critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions to many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties through Wednesday,” the National Weather Service said Monday when it issued the red flag warning.
Pepperdine University, which sits within eyesight above the lineup at First Point, canceled classes and placed students under a shelter-in-place order Monday night when the fire began to spread. University officials announced on social media that the campus itself wasn’t under threat of fire, however, videos of the flames spread on social media as students stayed on campus through the disaster.
My brother goes to school there! He just sent me this video! This is the view from inside the library! pic.twitter.com/166Jl0dfc4
— kat (@eww_its_kat) December 10, 2024
California Governor Gavin Newsom moved to secure a Fire Management Assistance Grant that would secure the resources needed to fight the fire. The grant will help Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, and Ventura counties amid Red Flag fire weather conditions issured by the National Weather Service.
“Fire officials and first responders are working relentlessly to protect lives and property from the Franklin Fire. California is grateful for this federal support, which bolsters these efforts. I urge all residents in affected areas to stay alert and follow evacuation orders,” he said in a statement Tuesday morning.
