Residents of the city of Malibu, Calif. are under mandatory evacuation orders Friday as the Woolsley Fire heads for populated areas along the Pacific Coast Highway (aka U.S. Route 101) and the Pacific Ocean.
#WhoolseyFire *URGENT SAFETY MESSAGE* Fire has jumped the 101 fwy near Chesebro and is headed to Ocean Mandatory Evacuations, 101 Fwy to the coast between Las Virgenes Cyn /Malibu Cyn Rd. to the LA County line. Imminent threat! Malibu lakes residents must leave area immediately.
— L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) November 9, 2018
The Woolsey Fire jumped the 101 freeway early Friday as one of three massive wildfires that ignited in the Golden State in just the past two days. The Woolsey Fire broke out inland in the city of Simi Valley on Thursday and remains 0% contained. As firefighters work to control the blaze, the best and really only thing residents can do is get out of the way. At least 150,000 homes have been evacuated in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties so far, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Fire is burning out of control, heading into populated areas of Malibu. All residents evacuate now https://t.co/Q3wJnger2Q
— City of Malibu (@CityMalibu) November 9, 2018
As California residents and first responders cope with wildfires raging across both the northern and southern parts of the state, officials in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties have not one but two fires to battle. The Hill Fire, which is ablaze across more than 6,000 acres in Ventura County as of Friday, is also headed for the Pacific Ocean.
Many longtime Malibu residents have survived similar mandatory evacuations due to wildfires in the past, most notably the devastating 1993 Old Topanga Fire, which claimed the lives of three people, destroyed more than 350 homes, and charred over 18,000 acres.