Rapidly growing wildfire near Malibu is forcing people to evacuate

People have been ordered to evacuate after a wildfire broke out near the city of Malibu in the US state of California and “spread rapidly”.

Authorities have dubbed the blaze the Franklin Fire, which they say has burned more than 300 acres in Malibu Canyon after it started around 22:50 local time (06:50 GMT) on Monday.

Firefighters are on scene and a mandatory evacuation order is in effect for the surrounding area.

It is not yet clear what caused the fire, which has been named a brush fire – meaning a type of fire that affects low-lying vegetation such as grass.

Wildfires in California typically have the capacity to burn thousands of acres of vegetation, meaning this blaze is relatively small — though officials have highlighted the speed of its spread.

The County of Los Angeles Fire Department said the evacuation order also includes areas east of Malibu Canyon Road and south of Piuma Road, as well as the Serra Retreat area.

Malibu officials highlighted that the fire was about three miles (4.8 km) north of the Pacific Coast Highway.

It’s just north of Malibu – a small, luxurious town west of Los Angeles that’s popular among wealthy celebrities – and near Pepperdine University.

The university said the incident poses no threat to its property, but there is a potential for the fire to grow and cause power outages in the local area.

Indeed, the Pepperdine Graphic student newspaper has reported one such cut.

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

California is a state that is prone to wildfires. The number of summer burned areas in Northern and Central California has increased fivefold from 1996 to 2021 compared to the previous 24-year period, which scientists blame on human-caused climate change.

Not all wildfires can automatically be linked directly to climate change. The science is complex and human factors, including how we manage land and forests, also contribute.

However, scientists say climate change is causing weather conditions that make wildfires, such as heat and drought, more likely.