How a University Is Built to Withstand Malibu’s Destructive Wildfire
Pepperdine University’s fire safety plan provides a template for protecting lives and property as climate change worsens wildfires.
Hillsides burn around Pepperdine University during the Franklin fire in Malibu, California, on Tuesday.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergThe videos posted on social media were terrifying: Hundreds of students at Pepperdine University in Malibu huddled in a library in the middle of the night as an inferno swirled around the building, palm trees ignited and the Santa Monica Mountains blazed on the edge of campus.
While authorities ordered thousands of Malibu residents to evacuate as the wind-driven Franklin Fire burned out of control early Tuesday, the Southern California university followed a decades-long protocol to shelter in place. With California grappling with fiercer fires, Pepperdine’s approach to risk management could be instructive.