Wicked Wildfire Burns Homes, Rages in Malibu, Calif.*

By NOAKI SCHWARTZ,
Associated Press Writer AP

MALIBU, Calif. - A wildfire driven by powerful Santa Ana winds
threatened a university and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes
in the Malibu Hills on Sunday. Flames destroyed a church and several
homes, one of them a landmark castle.

No residents or firefighters were injured, authorities said.

About 500 firefighters worked to protect Pepperdine University and some
200 homes in the upscale Malibu Crest and Serra Retreat neighborhoods,
said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sam Padilla.

The blaze had charred at least 1,000 acres, or more than a square mile.
Wind that gusted as high as 65 mph carried embers across the Pacific
Coast Highway, closing the popular road and setting fire to cars and
trees in the parking lot of a shopping center where several stores were
damaged.

Television news video showed several other buildings also in flames in
the area, including clusters of beach-side homes.

Flames consumed the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home
with turrets and arched windows, as about a dozen residents watched from
across a street. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning
building overlooking the coast.

Faculty and staff members at the 830-acre Pepperdine campus were urged
to evacuate, school spokesman Jerry Derloshon said. Students were
instructed to gather their belongings from their dorm rooms and report
to the school's cafeteria and basketball arena.

Power was out at the university, but both evacuation areas had
generators, said student and resident adviser Amanda Lewis, 21.
Helicopters dropped water on flames in the hills above the campus, and
palm trees smoldered on the ocean-facing side of the campus.

At least three homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed
destroyed in the area, and nine other homes were damaged, county Fire
Chief P. Michael Freeman said.

Fire crews had found downed power lines, which may have started the
blaze in Malibu Canyon, fire Capt. Mike Brown said.

Erratic wind gusts hampered efforts to drop water from aircraft and
pushed flames toward HRL Laboratories, commonly known as Hughes Lab, a
research and engineering facility jointly owned by Boeing Co. and
General Motors Corp. about a mile north of Pepperdine. One outbuilding
caught fire, Boeing spokeswoman Diana Ball said.

Flames engulfed Malibu Presbyterian Church, which had been evacuated,
said youth pastor Eric Smith. "That's the really good news, that
everyone's out and safe," Smith said.

Susan Nuttall sat in her black Mercedes in a cul-de-sac just off the
Pacific Coast Highway, saying she had fled her condo just below the
Pepperdine campus.

"We're all scared to death and we have nowhere to go," said Nuttall, 51,
still wearing a bathrobe and holding her Chihuahua.

Mitra Rajabi came to get her 80-year-old mother from her home near
Pepperdine.

"We've been through this before, but it's never been this bad," said
Rajabi, 39, of Pacific Palisades. "It was like a war zone."

About 200 homes were evacuated in Puerco Canyon and other nearby areas,
Brown said.

Wildfires had been widely expected in Southern California during the
weekend as hot weather and strong Santa Ana wind marked the height of
traditional wildfire season after one of the driest rain years on record.

Malibu, home to about 13,000 people, stretches along 27 miles of Pacific
coastline. The area is home to celebrities including Barbara Streisand,
Mel Gibson, Ted Danson, David Geffen and Pierce Brosnan.

Last January, a wildfire driven by Santa Ana winds destroyed the home of
actress Suzanne Somers and three other multimillion-dollar residences.

The community also is home to about 25 rehabilitation facilities,
including Promises Residential Treatment Center, whose guests have
included Britney Spears, Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Diana Ross and
Matthew Perry.

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Dalton, Gary Gentile and Jacob Adelman
contributed to this report from Los Angeles.