California firefighters made progress Wednesday battling a Malibu wildfire that exploded under high winds this week, although more than 6,000 people remained forced from their homes, officials said.
The so-called Franklin Fire destroyed at least nine structures and damaged six others as it churned through hills in the seaside community, coming close to Pepperdine University, fire authorities said at a news conference Wednesday.
But better weather helped firefighters reach 7% containment of the fire, which as of Wednesday evening has burned around 4,035 acres, said Dusty Martin, an incident manager for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Today we saw the weather moderate, which allowed us to have a lot of success around the fire today,” Martin said.
But he said the fire was also burning in “extremely steep, rugged terrain that’s almost inaccessible,” including in canyons, which is causing challenges for firefighters.
“As far as how long it will take us to contain it, it will probably take a number of days to contain it due to the current terrain that is out there,” Martin said.
Crews were working to establish fire lines, which means clearing vegetation down to the bare earth to prevent spread, he said.
The fire prompted some celebrities, including actor Dick Van Dyke and musician Cher, to leave their homes. Malibu is a wealthy part of the Los Angeles area with homes overlooking or near the Pacific Ocean.
The fire broke out Monday as the Los Angeles area and other parts of Southern California were under “red flag” warnings due to Santa Ana winds that helped the blaze spread, officials said.
The red flag warnings expired Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service for the Los Angeles area said.
Firefighters expect a wind direction change Thursday and gusts of around 15 mph, Martin said, adding that crews were preparing lines for that.
Around 6,300 people were still evacuated from the area Wednesday night because of the fire, officials said.
The cause is under investigation.
