Evacuation ordered for Malibu as raging fire jumps US 101, closes freeway

Jeremy Childs and Megan Diskin and Cheri Carlson and Doug Stanglin USA TODAY

Published 11:12 AM EST Nov 9, 2018

Fire officials ordered the evacuation of the entire beachside city of Malibu Friday as a raging fire jumped the U.S. 101 Freeway west of Los Angeles and raced toward the sea.

Pepperdine University shut down its Malibu and Calabasas campuses and initiated shelter-in-place protocols as the fire roared southward, sweeping into the Santa Monica mountains.

Some 75,000 homes were ordered evacuated in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The Los Angeles County Fire Department tweeted "imminent threat," adding that "Malibu lakes residents must leave area immediately."

The Woolsey fire was one of three ravaging the state, with the northern California town of Paradise in Butte County largely destroyed overnight.

The swift-moving Camp Fire, raging about 80 miles north of Sacramento, consumed Paradise, and moved Friday morning into the eastern side of Chico, a city with a population of around 90,000. Fire officials said strong winds had hampered efforts to drop retardant by aircraft.

In less than 24 hours, the Camp Fire had torched over 31 square miles, or 20,000 acres, turning escape routes around the town of Paradise into tunnels of fire as the entire community of 27,000 residents were ordered to evacuate.

Cal Fire said the fire, only 5 percent contained, had consumed 70,000 acres.

On Thursday, as flames engulfed Paradise, frantic residents racing to safety plunged into the thick smoke that darkened the daytime sky and made driving difficult.

“We were surrounded by fire, we were driving through fire on each side of the road,” said police officer Mark Bass, who lives in Paradise and works in neighboring Chico.

Bass evacuated his family and then returned to the fire to help rescue several disabled residents, including a man trying to carry his bedridden wife to safety. “It was just a wall of fire on each side of us, and we could hardly see the road in front of us.”

Sherri Pritchard said she only had time to grab a few pictures before fleeing with her family and dogs, even leaving clothes behind.

"It was crazy, because when we were sitting in traffic people were panicking," she said. "It was chaos. I couldn't believe what people were doing."

CAMP FIRE

Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean said a couple of thousand structures were destroyed in the town about 180 miles northeast of San Francisco. “Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it’s that kind of devastation,” he said.

The National Weather Service issued red-flag warnings for fire dangers in many areas of the state, saying low humidity and strong winds were expected to continue through the evening.

Acting California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Butte County, where the fire was burning about 80 acres per minute at one point, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. That’s equal to about 60 football fields per minute.

Hill Fire

Earlier in the day, the Hill Fire near Thousand Oaks in Ventura Country needed just 12 minutes to jump Highway 101, one of the area’s primary roadways. It burned in the same path as the 2013 Springs Fire that torched 24,000 acres before running into the Pacific Ocean.

More: After the fire comes the bill: The rising cost of fighting California blazes

More: 'Destroyed': In Paradise, California, entire community of 27,000 was ordered to evacuate

The Hill Fire had consumed 10,000 acres, or 15 square miles, according to Cal Fire, though the Ventura County Fire Department reported no injuries or structure losses at a Thursday night press conference.

“The first part of this fuel bed had not seen fire for many years. Drought-stricken fuels, Santa Ana wind conditions, low relative humidity, high temperatures: It’s a recipe for fire,” said Ventura County Fire Department Assistant Chief Chad Cook, the incident commander for the Hill Fire.

Woolsey Fire

Highway Patrol officials shut down Highway 101 in both directions at Liberty Canyon road after the blaze — what was zero contained — jumped the critical artery Friday.

The Los Angeles county fire department, warned Malibu lakes residents to "leave area immediately" as the fire bore down on the area.

Reality TV celebrity Kim Kardashian-West, who lives in an area known as Hidden Hills in Los Angeles county, was among those forced to evacuate their homes as the Woolsey Fire exploded to 8,000 acres, People magazine reported. She had been filming aerial shots in her private plane earlier for her Instagram Stories and realized her own home was threatened.

“Just landed back home and had 1 hour to pack up & evacuate our home. I pray everyone is safe,” she wrote.

Friday morning, fire officials reported that the fire had jumped Highway 101 near the city of Calabasas.

Contributing: Ventura County Star; Redding Record Searchlight; The Associated Press

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