Santa Ana winds are spreading the Franklin fire in Malibu, where 2,667 acres were scorched by just before noon on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
“We have a northeast wind coming off the Santa Monica Mountains with gusts up to 40 miles per hour,” National Weather Service meteorologist James Brotherton said. “That’s coming right off the mountains down into Malibu.”
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The NWS issued a red flag warning for the early part of the week on Sunday, and said the most dangerous time would be overnight Monday into Tuesday. The blaze at Malibu Canyon Road, near the tunnel, was reported Monday around 11 p.m.
Gusts upwards of 50 mph and extremely low humidity continue to pose a significant risk to the greater Los Angeles area, as well as most of the Southern California region.
Though the winds are expected to ease Tuesday afternoon, according to Brotherton, the warning will remain in place until Wednesday afternoon. Conditions will continue to be dry, particularly in Malibu, where humidity percentages are in the single digits.
A firefighting helicopter fills up with pond water on the Pepperdine University campus on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, during the battle against the FranklinFire in malibu. Video by Hans Gutknecht/LA Daily News
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The public should be prepared for power outages and possible evacuations, and stay up to date on instructions from emergency officials.
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Southern California Edison has shut off power to tens of thousands of customers around Southern California to try to mitigate hazards.
By around noon in Los Angeles County, it was turned off to 11,555 customers, and another 38,051 customers could be affected, according to the SCE site. The company shut off power to 9,003 customers in Riverside County, and another 63,301 customers could also have their service turned off. In San Bernardino, it was shut off to 10,234 customers, with another 51,850 being considered.
Orange County saw power turned off for fewer than 500 customers, but 6,033 might lose their electricity as a precaution.
The utility warns that people should always assume a downed wire is energized, and to stay at least 100 feet away from it and call 911.
The eastern San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley could see peak winds of 20 to 30 mph and up to 55mph gusts, with temperatures in the upper 60s to mid-70s for the remainder of Tuesday and Wednesday.
A red flag warning remained in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday for inland Orange County, including the Cleveland National Forest, and the Inland Empire, with northeast winds between 25 to 35 mph and 35 to 55 mph gusts in the forecast. That area could see high temperatures in the low to mid-70s over the next two days.
Staff writer Mona Darwish and City News Service contributed to this report.