Malibu wildfire destroys homes, forces 6,300 people to evacuate

By Daniel Cole

MALIBU, California (Reuters) -Aided by favorable winds and weather, firefighters on Wednesday progressed in containing a wildfire in the beach community of Malibu, California, where 6,300 people evacuated their homes as schools and businesses shut their doors.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters were battling the Franklin Fire, which scorched more than 4,000 acres (1,620 hectares) since it began on Monday and has destroyed nine buildings and damaged six others, officials said. It was 7% contained as of Wednesday night.

The steep, rugged terrain northwest of Los Angeles prevented firefighters from reaching much of the blaze, which will take several more days to contain, said Dusty Martin, assistant fire chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

"We saw the weather moderate, which allowed us to have a lot of success around the fire today," Martin told a press conference. "It'll probably take a number of days to contain it due to the current terrain that is out there."

Firefighters concentrated efforts on one canyon where helicopters dropped water. Nearby a group stood by on a break, their faces full of crusted dust just before nightfall.

Officials lifted a red flag warning that had been in place to advise people of the extreme risk of rapid fire growth.

The exclusive town of Malibu is home to many celebrities in the secluded hills above Pacific Ocean some 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Los Angeles.

Among the evacuees was actor Dick Van Dyke, who turns 99 on Friday and said on social media he and his wife evacuated safely, along with their pets - except for one called Bobo that was missing.

Some 22,000 people were affected by the fire, said Captain Jennifer Seetoo of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

No deaths or injuries have been reported, and its cause remained under investigation, officials said.

(Reporting by Daniel Cole in Malibu, Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California, Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, and Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Mark Porter, Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast.)