Important Takeaways:

• Red Flag fire warnings are expected to remain for the Malibu area along the Southern California coast into Wednesday afternoon after the Franklin Fire forced evacuation orders or warnings for 18,000 residents, including some celebrities, and more than 8,000 homes and businesses.
• Tens of thousands have lost power, and schools have had to cancel classes.
• At its peak, the wildfire that ignited Monday expanded at an alarming rate, consuming an area larger than five football fields per minute and destroying at least seven structures
• Weather conditions: Gusty winds are expected to drop below 30 mph by Wednesday afternoon. Dry conditions persist, with relative humidity below 10%, prompting the weather service to issue Red Flag warnings until 2 p.m. Wednesday. A Red Flag warning means warm temperatures, very low humidities, and stronger winds are expected to combine to produce an increased risk of fire. The Storm Prediction Center has also rated the fire risk for Southern California at level 1 of 3 for Wednesday.
• Power outages: Nearly 60,000 customers across California experienced power outages, primarily concentrated in San Diego County, where utilities implemented preventative shutdowns. Pepperdine University’s Malibu campus lost power, with some buildings relying on generator power.

Read the original article by clicking here.