Malibu wildfire burns over 3,000 acres causing mass evacuations and power outages

A fire that has been burning for three days in Malibu, California has devastated more than 3,000 acres, caused mass evacuations, and power outages. At the time of writing, Red Flag warnings and a fire risk rated 1 are still in place, meaning warm temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds are increasing the chance of fire. 

Over 1,500 firefighters are on the scene but have struggled to contain the flames, which have been whipped up further by strong winds, which one resident told CNN, are “like a blowtorch”. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the region as winds were not predicted to drop until Wednesday afternoon, but conditions were expected to ease the task with light rain towards the end of the week and high alert warnings revised to advisories.

20,000 evacuated and schools closed

Around 20,000 residents, including celebrities such as Cher and 99-year-old film star Dick Van Dyke, have fled the area, while 3,000 students at Pepperdine University Campus, situated close to ground zero, were told to “shelter in place” in areas of the establishment considered safe, such as the library, before all final pre-holiday exams were cancelled by Wednesday. No major damage has been reported on site.

Star Wars hero, actor Mark Hamill issued an encouraging message to fellow residents on Tuesday as he too sheltered in place with the fire raging nearby. “Please stay safe everyone! I’m not allowed to leave the house, which fits in perfectly with my elderly-recluse lifestyle,” he wrote in an Instagram post. 

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60,000 without power

An estimated 60,000 households and businesses are without power, especially in the San Diego area, and all four of Malibu’s schools have closed and will remain closed until at least Thursday. School closures are also occurring in San Diego County due to precautionary power outages and weather warnings, according to the county’s Office of Education.

Malibu City Hall had to up stick to a new location in Calabasas for emergency operations and Mayor Doug Stewart described the situation on Tuesday as “a traumatic 20 hours for the city of Malibu.”

California has seen nearly 8,000 wildfires this year alone and over a million acres of territory have been affected. Increasingly violent and frequent wildfires are one of the results of climate change cited by scientists and are another example of consequences that create their own feedback loop. The Franklin Fire, as the latest Malibu inferno has been named, at one point was so intense that it caused wind direction and behaviour to alter.