Celebrities among thousands fleeing Malibu wildfire

Actors Dick Van Dyke and Mark Hamill and musician Cher are among thousands of residents who have been told to leave their homes in the city of Malibu after a fast-moving wildfire broke out and burned acres of the wealthy enclave near Los Angeles.

Hundreds of personnel have been deployed to fight the Franklin Fire, which started late on Monday in Malibu Canyon before torching several homes.

No injuries have been reported, and while the blaze has grown it was 20% contained as of Wednesday.

The cause is not yet clear, but the region has been under a red-flag warning, meaning conditions are ripe for extreme fires.

More than 4,000 acres of land have been burned, according to officials' latest information. Some 2,000 firefighters have been sent to tackle the flames, which have entered steep terrain making it harder for crews to access.

Much of the city has been under mandatory evacuation order and federal assistance has been made available, Governor Gavin Newsom said.

Smoke advisories have been issued for surrounding areas, with people advised to limit or avoid outdoor activities.

The blaze has left a trail of burnt-out cars and buses as well as the charred remains of homes. Nine structures were destroyed including four homes, authorities said.

Malibu is popular with celebrities. Homes owned by stars including Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Jay Z were reportedly among those in the evacuation zone.

Van Dyke was among the stars forced to flee, he said in a post on Facebook.

The Mary Poppins star, who turns 99 on Friday, said he and his wife Arlene safely left with their pets, except for one cat named Bobo, who was missing for several hours.

"We found Bobo as soon as we arrived back home this morning," Van Dyke wrote on Facebook. "There was so much interest in his disappearance that Animal Control was called in to assist. But, thankfully, he was easy to find and not harmed."

Witnesses told KABC-TV that the home belonging to the actor's neighbour had caught fire, but that Dyke's was untouched.

Singer Cher also had to flee the fire, according to the New York Times. A representative told Fox that she had yet to return home.

Barbra Streisand is another famous resident of Malibu, however, her publicist told the New York Times it was unclear whether she had evacuated.

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill told fans on Instagram that he was "in lockdown" because of the fires and remained in his home.

"I'm not allowed to leave the house, which fits in with my elderly-recluse lifestyle," he wrote.

Other celebrities who confirmed they were impacted by the blaze were ex-Dancing with the Stars champion and TV personality Brook Burke, British actress Jane Seymour and Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino.

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Wildfires more generally in California have the capacity to burn through tens of thousands of acres of vegetation due to the typical dry conditions in the region.

The Franklin Fire is relatively small by comparison, though it has spread quickly.

Schools in the area have closed, roads are shut, and power has been cut locally to prevent worsening the blaze. Tens of thousands of homes were disconnected on Wednesday morning, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us. The vast majority were reconnected by Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, evacuation centres have been opened for residents and animals. More than 5,000 people were in the evacuation zone, according to data from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

The blaze broke out near Pepperdine University. The university initially directed students to shelter in place, but has since lifted that order and said fire activity nearby had "greatly diminished".

Footage showed students sheltering in the university library as a wall of fire approached on Monday evening. Fire crews hosed down the flames. Pepperdine reported there was minor damage on campus, but no-one was hurt.

Officials have warned that this blaze has been fuelled by the seasonal Santa Ana winds.

It started about three miles (4.8km) north of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) - an iconic road along the Pacific Ocean known for its stunning views - and quickly spread south, jumping across the route into the Malibu Pier area.

The evacuation order covered a region that included east of Malibu Canyon Road and south of Puma Road as well as the Serra Retreat area, the County of Los Angeles Fire Department said.

A map of the blaze shows it was bordering city hall government facilities, a school and a number of homes in the area - including a line of oceanfront properties.

The latest incident comes about a month after another fire forced thousands of people to evacuate another nearby city, Moorpark.

California is a state that is prone to wildfires. The amount of burned areas in the summer in northern and central part of the state increased fivefold from 1996 to 2021 compared with the 24-year period before.

Scientists have attributed this to climate change, though not all wildfires can automatically be linked directly to this cause.

The science is complicated and human factors, including how we manage land and forests, also contribute.

However, scientists say climate change is making weather conditions that lead to wildfires, such as heat and drought, more likely.