Homes burn as wind-driven wildfire prompts evacuations in Malibu, California | What to know now

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) Thousands of Southern California residents were under evacuation orders and warnings Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu that burned near seaside mansions and Pepperdine University, where students watched as flames raced down hillsides and the sky turned deep red.

A “minimal number” of homes burned, but the exact amount wasn't immediately known, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony C. Marrone said. An Associated Press photographer witnessed at least one house engulfed in flames.

More than 8,100 homes and other structures were under threat, including more than 2,000 where residents have been ordered to evacuate. Another 6,000 people were warned to be prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice as Santa Ana winds with gusts reaching 40 mph (64 kph) made for erratic fire conditions.

Ryan Song, a resident assistant at Pepperdine University, said the power went out at his dorm late Monday and when he looked out the window he saw a huge pink glow.

“I thought this is too bright, and it got bigger and bigger,” the 20-year-old junior said. “I immediately went outside and saw that it was a real fire.”

Song and the other resident assistants went door to door, evacuating students. Most were calm and followed instructions, he said; a few who were scared rushed to their cars to get off campus.

Song spent the next few hours racing back and forth in the dark between his dorm and the main campus to ensure no one was left behind as fire raged down a mountain, he said.

“It felt really close,” he said, adding he was probably less than a mile away. “Seeing the fire rampaging down the hill is obviously scary for students but I felt like our staff was prepared.”

The university later said the worst of the fire had pushed past campus.

It was not immediately known how the blaze, named the Franklin Fire, started. County fire officials estimated that more than 3.5 square miles (9 square kilometers) of trees and dry brush had burned and structures were threatened. There was no containment.

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