Firefighters in US battling a wildfire in Malibu, California
Al Jazeera
Firefighters in the United States are battling a wildfire in Malibu, California that is near Pepperdine University and prompting evacuations of about 6,000 people and more than 2,000 structures, according to local media.
Students sheltering at the Pepperdine library early on Tuesday watched as the sky turned deep red.
“Just seeing the flames grow and seeing that bright red colour 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 the campus.
It was not immediately known how the blaze, named the Franklin Fire, started. But Los Angeles County Fire Department officials estimated that more than 7.2 square kilometres (2.8 square miles) had burned and structures were threatened.
A damage estimate was not available, but “it’s certain some number of homes are definitely going to be badly damaged”, Matt Myerhoff, a spokesperson for the city of Malibu, told KABC-TV.
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