JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Firefighters continue to battle a blaze that broke out last night in Malibu, California, as the area faced extremely dangerous weather conditions. Low humidity, high winds and dry vegetation prompted the National Weather Service to issue a rare type of fire warning for parts of Southern California, the one they use only for the most extreme events. Fire officials say that only a few homes have been destroyed, but they are still up against bad weather conditions. Here to give us an update is Steve Futterman in Malibu. Hi there.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Steve, I understand that this fire broke out last night. Walk us through, if you can, what happened.
FUTTERMAN: Well, for the last couple of days, forecasters had warned of these strong Santa Ana winds. Now, Santa Ana winds occur every year, but this warning was a bit different. It was described as a particularly dangerous situation, a PDS. That's actually a term the weather service uses. We've all heard the term red flag warning. A PDS is a much more serious red flag warning. So this was the reaction of LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone when he was told about the fire.
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ANTHONY MARRONE: When I got the call at 11 o'clock last night, the fire had been burning 10 minutes, and it was already at 5 acres, being pushed by those strong Santa Ana winds. I knew we were going to have a challenge on our hands.
FUTTERMAN: And he was absolutely right. The fire, buffeted by these wind gusts, some of them 40 miles an hour, exploded to almost 2,000 acres in just four hours. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for much of Malibu. Pepperdine University ordered its students to shelter in place. Thankfully, no major injuries or fatalities have been reported.
SUMMERS: Yeah, that is good news, Steve. What do we know so far about the damage that this fire has caused?
FUTTERMAN: Well, the fire chief said this morning that there were in - what he called minimal damage. He later told me it might be as low as a dozen structures. Typically, this kind of exceptional fire weather happens once every three to five years in California, according to the National Weather Service, but it did also occur last month, sparking the Mountain Fire. That fire destroyed over 200 structures. So here in Malibu, for the moment, fire officials feel they may have dodged a bullet, and some of that may be due to a decision to pre-position fire crews and equipment even before the fire began.
SUMMERS: It's certainly a relief that there was not more damage, but hearing you describe it, this fire does sound quite scary. Do we know if climate change is playing a role in fires like this?
FUTTERMAN: So wildfires in general happen every year in California, and they are a normal part of the ecological cycle. But climate change is definitely making them more likely and more intense. Now, the Santa Ana winds are also a normal part of the weather patterns here. They can be really strong and often hot and dry, too. There is some evidence from scientists suggesting the hottest and driest of these winds are getting more frequent with climate change, but the jury's still out. Either way, they are dangerous. Kristen Guirguis is an extreme weather expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.
KRISTEN GUIRGUIS: They dry out the vegetation. If you have an ignition, then they're very good at spreading wildfire.
FUTTERMAN: And that's exactly what happened here. The vegetation in the Malibu Mountains is already dry because of the hot weather this year, which was already affected by climate change. Then comes the Santa Ana winds to dry it out more and help spread the embers.
SUMMERS: Sounds like the risks is still quite real for the Malibu area today.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah. Well, absolutely, though the winds did calm down earlier today, but they're expected to increase tonight and tomorrow. And the goal right now for firefighters is to try to prevent the fire from spreading even more.
SUMMERS: That's Steve Futterman in Malibu. Thank you.
FUTTERMAN: Thanks, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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