Malibu Blaze Brings Harrowing Scene for Students, Evacuees
- Fast-moving blaze threatened Pepperdine, forces evacuations
- Dick Van Dyke, Rainn Wilson among celebrities affected
A charred hillside is seen after the Franklin Fire swept through on the Pepperdine University grounds on Dec. 10.
Photographer: Eugene Garcia/AP PhotoThis article is for subscribers only.
At about 2 a.m. Tuesday, students huddled in Pepperdine University’s library and watched through the window as wind-whipped flames blazed over a nearby hill. The Malibu sky glowed red. Smoke filtered into the building.
“It was just across the street and it looked like it was getting closer,” Rachel Flynn, a senior at the Southern California school, said in a phone interview. “We were wondering, where’s the fire department?”