20,000 Malibu area residents face evacuation as Red Flag fire warnings persist

(CNN) — Red Flag fire warnings are expected to remain for the Malibu area along the Southern California coast into Wednesday afternoon after the Franklin Fire forced evacuation orders or warnings for 20,000 residents, including some celebrities, and more than 8,000 homes and businesses.

Tens of thousands have lost power, and schools have had to cancel classes.

At its peak, the wildfire that ignited Monday expanded at an alarming rate, consuming an area larger than five football fields per minute and destroying at least seven structures. Some people are confronting the painful reality of lost homes.

Longtime Malibu resident Fred Roberts expressed his alarm at the destruction while checking on a friend’s home.

“I remember playing in this house in the front yard with my schoolmates. That’s how long I’ve been here, my whole life,” Roberts told Reuters. “This is a notorious area, winds coming straight down Malibu Canyon like a blowtorch.”

Officials expressed cautious optimism Wednesday morning that the scheduled expiration of Red Flag warnings later in the day would help them get the blaze under control. A Red Flag warning means warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds are expected to combine to produce an increased risk of fire.

“We’re far better off this morning than we were in the last 30-plus hours,” Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart said. The city had to move its emergency operations to Calabasas on Tuesday because of the fire threat to City Hall.

Despite the positive weather trends, the Los Angeles County Fire chief warned the 12,600 residents under evacuation orders to continue to take the fire seriously.

“Up until this point, it’s been a wind-driven fire,” Chief Anthony Marrone said. “If the wind changes direction, we’re going to have the fire moving into new areas.”

Fire activity around Pepperdine University’s Malibu campus has decreased, with only small flames remaining as firefighters tackle lingering hot spots, the school alerted at 9:58 p.m. Tuesday. Early assessments show no structural damage or injuries. A shelter-in-place protocol was lifted Wednesday morning, the university announced, and a precautionary power outage on campus ended.

The university has canceled all on-campus finals and announced remaining students would be allowed to leave on Wednesday morning.

While strong winds were prevalent late Monday and early Tuesday, conditions began to calm by Tuesday evening. The National Weather Service cautioned gusty winds are still expected through Wednesday morning, particularly in mountainous areas. The weather service has downgraded high-wind warnings to advisories.

Here’s the latest:

• Rapid Growth: Strong winds have fueled the Franklin Fire, which has burned 3,893 acres, according to a Wednesday morning update from Cal Fire. It is 7% contained, according to Los Angeles County Fire and Cal Fire officials.
• Destruction: Initial assessments indicate at least seven structures destroyed and eight damaged, though further evaluations are pending, said Marrone, the Los Angeles County fire chief. No deaths or injuries have been reported, the city of Malibu said.
• Malibu’s famous residents are among those impacted: Actor Dick Van Dyke and his wife, Arlene, fled their home with pets in tow, though one of their cats is missing, according to a post on the 99-year-old’s Facebook page. And actor Mark Hamill went into lockdown on Tuesday as the fire intensified. “Please stay safe everyone! I’m not allowed to leave the house, which fits in perfectly with my elderly-recluse lifestyle,” Hamill posted on Instagram. Grammy Award-winning singer Cher also had to leave her Malibu home for safety and is staying at a hotel, her publicist told the AP.
• Weather conditions: Gusty winds are expected to drop below 30 mph by Wednesday afternoon. Dry conditions persist, with relative humidity below 10%, prompting the weather service to issue Red Flag warnings until 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Storm Prediction Center rated the fire risk for Southern California at level 1 of 3 for Wednesday.
• Power outages: Nearly 60,000 customers across California experienced power outages, primarily concentrated in San Diego County, where utilities implemented preventative shutdowns. Pepperdine University’s Malibu campus lost power, with some buildings relying on generator power.
• School closures: All four Malibu schools – Malibu Elementary, Malibu Middle, Malibu High, and Webster Elementary – will be closed through Thursday, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District posted on social media. School closures also impacted San Diego County due to preemptive power outages and inclement weather, the county’s Office of Education posted on social media Tuesday.

CNN’s Chris Boyette, Lauren Mascarenhas and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.