The residence halls had lost power, and cell service was not working. Embers had sparked tiny flare-ups on the school grounds, setting palm trees ablaze. Helicopters were descending to extract water from a campus pond.
And so the students gathered, many in their pajamas, in the library and in the campus center where the windows framed a distressing sight: Flames ravaging the mountains in the not so far distance; smoke spiraling in the dark sky.
They called their parents. They prayed.
So went early Tuesday morning for nearly 3,000 students, faculty members and staff members at Pepperdine University, a Christian school in Malibu known for its bucolic setting of rolling hills and ocean views.
Around them, the Franklin fire, fueled by fierce winds, ravaged the Santa Monica Mountains and forced thousands of people to evacuate from Malibu — the famed affluent coastal enclave that boasts picturesque beaches and celebrity homeowners. Schools were closed, and residents were ordered to stay away.
The blaze also shut down a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway, a key artery in and out of the city, as flames leaped across it and threatened the Malibu Pier, a popular tourist attraction. By Tuesday afternoon, the wildfire had burned more than 2,800 acres, and officials said that gusts as strong as 60 miles per hour had challenged the more than 700 firefighters responding to the scene.
“But rest assured, we are going to have a coordinated air and ground assault on this fire for as long as it takes,” said the Los Angeles County fire chief, Anthony C. Marrone.
Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County said that about 18,000 people were in the mandatory or voluntary evacuation zones. Malibu city officials said in a statement that some homes had been damaged or destroyed, but they did not have details about the scale. No injuries or deaths had been reported.
Peak wildfire season is in full swing in Southern California. Weather officials said the conditions were similar to those of early November, when dangerous winds whipped through Ventura County and fueled the Mountain fire, a nearly 20,000-acre inferno that destroyed 243 structures, including homes.
Officials had issued a critical fire alert on Monday, warning that high winds were expected this week.
Malibu, to many, is imagined to be a sun-soaked paradise, a playground for the rich and famous. But living on the coast has become more challenging in recent years. After heavy rains, mudslides have repeatedly forced the closure of the Pacific Coast Highway. Six years ago, the Woolsey fire destroyed hundreds of homes and killed three people. And rising sea levels threaten the many multimillion-dollar homes that overlook the ocean.
Even Malibu’s most high-profile residents have been forced to scramble.
On Tuesday, Dick Van Dyke, 98, said in a post on Facebook that he and his wife had vacated their home as the Franklin fire continued to envelop his community.
“Arlene and I have safely evacuated with our animals except for Bobo escaped as we were leaving,” he said, referring to his cat. “We’re praying he’ll be OK and that our community in Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires.”
The singer Cher evacuated to a hotel on Monday night along with her pets, according to her publicist, who gave no other details.
Just east of Malibu is the Getty Villa, a branch of the Getty Center that boasts Greek and Roman antiquities. The Villa and its collection are safe and not affected, a spokeswoman said, but the museum will be closed through Friday.
Pepperdine community members were alerted to the threat of fire around 1 a.m., in an urgent email sent by the university and spread quickly by the night-owl tendencies of college students.
Although much of Malibu was under evacuation orders, sheltering in place was the university’s primary plan during wildfires, developed in consultation with fire officials, said Michael Friel, a university spokesman. He added that there had been no injuries and little to no damage to structures on campus. The last time the university had done something similar was during the Woolsey fire.
Across campus early Tuesday, some lugged suitcases, preparing to leave anyway, while others were confused, asking what was going on.
“We weren’t really too concerned at the beginning, but then the power went out, and people started freaking out,” said Michael Robinson, 20, a sophomore.
Charis Kai, a freshman, was nearly asleep when her resident adviser pounded on the door to her dorm room. She loaded her backpack with her laptop, chargers and wallet and headed to the library.
There, the smell of smoke had crept inside. Some students sang worship songs. Others cried.
Many could not help but gather around the windows to watch the spectacle of flames. Any unease was heightened by the crowd remarking on a blaze that appeared to only march forward.
“There was a lot of anxiety going on, because everyone was shouting things, like, ‘It’s coming closer, we’re going to die,’” Ms. Kai, 19, said.
She and her friends eventually decided to stop looking at the windows. “When you see the fire coming closer, that’s what makes everything worse,” she said.
The university canceled final exams for the week.
Those who decided to flee were left wondering how others had fared.
Jessica Hooten Wilson, a humanities professor, and her husband had managed to find shelter at a hotel an hour away. She and her husband had rounded up their four children, not even stopping to grab extra clothes before they hurried to their car. As they drove, the family could feel the heat emanating from the fire.
“I didn’t know if our friends were OK,” she said. “We were just driving away with the flames in the hills in the background.”
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