UPDATED with latest: Improving wind conditions helped firefighters make progress on the Bryson Fire north of Malibu on Friday, with the latest reports saying the brushfire is now 39% contained.
The fire has consumed an estimated 147 acres as of a report this afternoon by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which has had jurisdiction over the brushfire since first responding at about 4:40 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Encinal Canyon Road.
According to Cal Fire, a total of 414 personnel and two helicopters have been battling the blaze, which is centralized north of Encinal between the former Malibu Golf Club and Saddlerock Ranch. TV reports Thursday night had the blaze starting next to the Camp Kilpatrick juvenile detention center.
Two zones in the area are under mandatory evacuation, though none in the city of Malibu; evacuation warnings are still in place in western Malibu. Road closures include Decker Road and Encinal Canyon Road, Kanan Road and Mulholland Highway, and Mulholland and Westlake Boulevard. PCH remains open.
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The National Weather Service has red-flag warnings in effect for much of Los Angeles and southeastern Ventura counties until 8 p.m. Saturday, with reports of wind gusts in the local mountains reaching 50-70 mph Friday. The NWS expects that the Santa Ana wind event, which coupled with high temperatures and low humidity causes the dangerous conditions, to subside this evening.
The NWS said today that it expects the winds to be 10-15 mph weaker Saturday.
PREVIOUSLY, Friday, 12:30 AM: A wind-whipped brushfire ignited in western Malibu Thursday and spread from one to five acres in a matter of about 15 minutes. Within an hour, the incident was estimated at about 35 acres, including various spot fires that erupted as winds pushed the flames forward.
As of 11:30 p.m., the fire was estimated at more than 146 acres with 5% containment and moving SSW. The National Weather Service has forecast the winds “to increase significantly overnight, [with] gusts of 50 to 60 mph possible.”
Dubbed the Bryson Fire, the blaze was first reported shortly before 5 p.m. near the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Encinal Canyon Road. The ignition point seems to be just north of Encinal in between the former Malibu Golf Club and Saddlerock Ranch. More specifically, TV reports have the blaze starting right next to the Camp Kilpatrick juvenile detention center.
According to the Watch Duty app, an Evacuation Order was issued for the south of the fire in Zuma and Trancas Canyons, where the wind is pushing the blaze. It was later extended west of the area where the event began.
The Los Angeles County Probation Department announced that it safely evacuated 38 youths from Camp Kilpatrick.
Evacuation Warnings were issued from the L.A. County line in the north and south toward Point Dume. An Evacuation Order means “leave now,” while an Evacuation Warning means “be ready to leave.” See the Order area in red and Warning in orange below (as of 7:30 p..m.).
The road closures in the area include Decker Road, Encinal Canyon Road, Kanan Road, Mulholland Highway and Westlake Boulevard.
Fire officials were most concerned with keeping the blaze north of Encinal Canyon Road, one of the few natural firebreaks in the immediate area. The concern is, should it jump Encinal Canyon Road, the flames could get pushed directly down Zuma, Trancas and other canyons on a run to the Coast. By 10:30 p.m., the fire’s perimeter on its southwest flank had spread right down to Encinal. See perimeter map below.
The much larger Woolsey fire made a similar run in 2018 after starting in Chatsworth and burning around and through portions of Calabasas and Agoura Hills when, according to an account in the Malibu Times, “It burned through multiple canyons simultaneously, driven at first by 60 mph Santa Ana winds, and then by the wind generated by the heat of fire itself” all the way down to Point Dume.
Santa Ana winds were fanning the fire out of the NE at about 19 mph with gusts to 36 in the early evening, according to a National Weather Service reading for the Malibu Hills. At 7:30 p.m., the temperature was 80 degrees with a relative humidity of 14%.
The area is sparsely populated with private estates set atop hills or within canyons, making firefighting access difficult. Among the properties in the area are Saddlerock Ranch, a location used in filming The Kardashians, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Biggest Loser, Better Things, Knight Rider and The A-Team. Also nearby is the historic Calamigos Ranch, home to shoots for Grey’s Anatomy, Love Is Blind, The Bachelorette, The Bachelor, Beverly Hills 90210, Rizzoli & Isles,The Biggest Loser and Wayne’s World 2.
The last major blaze to sweep through the area was the 2018 Woolsey Fire, meaning brush in most of those canyons has not been cleared for about eight years.
Water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were dispatched to the scene. A first-alarm response had also been requested from Ventura County FD.
With night set to fall, many in the area were without power due to outages planned by Southern California Edison in hopes of preventing power lines downed by the winds from sparking fires. See hashmarked areas on the map below for those outages.
The good news is that the winds are expected to lay down after dark. The bad news is that, if the fire persists, the worst of this Santa Ana wind event is still expected Friday morning.
City News Service contributed to this report.
