Students sheltering at Pepperdine University’s library watched as fire intensified and sky turn deep red
Firefighters battled a wildfire early Tuesday in Malibu that prompted evacuations near Pepperdine University, where students sheltering at the school’s library watched as the fire intensified and the sky turn deep red.
“Just seeing the flames grow and seeing that bright red color of fire just get brighter and brighter and brighter – it was so scary,” student Gabrielle Salgado told KABC-TV. 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 but Los Angeles county fire department officials estimated that at least 2.8 sq miles (7.2 sq km) had burned and structures were threatened.
The fire burned amid dangerous fire conditions because of southern California’s notorious Santa Ana winds.
