Bryson Fire Passes 100 Acres Near Malibu and Forces Evacuations as Santa Ana Winds Rise

MALIBU, California. A wind driven brush fire near Encinal Canyon Road in western Malibu passed 100 acres on Thursday evening, Oct 15, and forced evacuations as Santa Ana winds strengthened across Los Angeles County.

The Bryson Fire was reported late Thursday afternoon in the 400 block of Encinal Canyon Road, near Mulholland Highway and close to Camp Kilpatrick, a county juvenile detention facility. CAL FIRE lists the start time at 5 p.m. local time and names the Los Angeles County Fire Department as the agency in charge. The cause is under investigation.

Growth in under two hours

The fire moved fast through dry brush. CAL FIRE logged it at 35 acres at 5:42 p.m., with active spotting as winds pushed flames ahead of the main fire. It reached 40 acres at 5:57 p.m. and 80 acres at 6:06 p.m. The Ventura County Star put the size at an estimated 101.5 acres as of 6:30 p.m.

Early reports from crews at the scene said no structures were immediately threatened, and there were no immediate reports of injuries. Ground crews and aircraft were assigned to the fire, and fire officials asked for road closures in the area.

One evacuation order, ten warning zones

CAL FIRE lists an evacuation order for zone KAN-U017. Evacuation warnings cover ten more zones: CRN-U019, LBO-U018, LEO-U015, MAL-C113, MAL-C114, MCR-U021-A, MLK-U020, SYC-U016, VST-U046 and WLV-C201. Additional warnings and the order took effect at 6:11 p.m.

Smoke from the fire was visible in Ventura County. The Ventura County Fire Department sent equipment and personnel to help with the firefight, and officials there said shortly after 5 p.m. that the fire did not pose a threat to Ventura County residents. Officials urged people in the affected areas to monitor official alerts and be ready to leave if conditions change.

Red flag conditions into the weekend

The National Weather Service has red flag warnings in place through 8 p.m. Saturday. Forecasters warn of gusts up to 75 miles per hour in the mountains and humidity dropping into single digits, and the Star reported that winds around the fire were expected to keep rising on Thursday evening and peak overnight into Friday morning.

Southern California Edison had already shut off power to more than 23,000 customers in the Ventura County area and 16,000 more in Los Angeles and Kern counties by early Thursday afternoon, in planned shutoffs meant to stop power lines from starting new fires. The utility was monitoring circuits covering more than 100,000 other customers.

Other fires across the county

Crews handled other fires in the same wind event. The Peak Fire near Azusa broke out at 1:15 p.m. near San Gabriel Canyon Road and was mapped at 43 acres with 31 percent containment by late afternoon. Its evacuation order was reduced and then lifted during the afternoon. Near Santa Paula, a fire off Cornell Road shortly after 1 p.m. brought an evacuation warning that was lifted at about 2:30 p.m.