By Brendan O’Brien and Rich McKay
(Reuters) – Nearly 2,000 firefighters battling a wildfire in Malibu, California, hope to maintain their momentum on Thursday against a stubborn blaze that has destroyed several structures in the beach community, home to many celebrities and Hollywood power brokers.
The wildfire, known as the Franklin Fire, was 4,000 acres (1618 hectares) and 7 percent contained as it burned in rough terrain in the coastal community just northwest of Los Angeles, Cal Fire said in an online post on Thursday.
Firefighters were protecting structures in the secluded hills above Pacific Ocean while establishing and reinforcing the fire’s perimeter control, Cal Fire said.
“Firefighters are making steady progress as relative humidity is expected to increase overnight, and weak northeasterly winds will persist into the evening,” it said.
The fire, which began on Monday, destroyed nine structures and damaged six others, Cal Fire said.
The cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined and no deaths or injuries were reported. Some 6,300 people evacuated their homes, including celebrities Dick Van Dyke and Cher, as schools and businesses shut their doors.
There was a slight chance of rain on Thursday afternoon, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The weather was bringing higher humidity, upwards of 70 percent, he said, and low winds.
“It doesn’t look too bad,” Chenard said. “At least it’s not dry and windy. That should help.”
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Mark Porter)
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