A fast-moving fire above Malibu
The Bryson Fire sparked around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, 15 October, in the brush-filled mountains above Malibu, a coastal town west of Los Angeles. It grew from 2 acres to 100 in less than two hours, prompting evacuation warnings and orders. Firefighters used air assault support, with help from the Community Brigade, a group of local volunteers trained after the deadly 2018 Woolsey Fire. By Friday the blaze had reached about 200 acres (80 hectares), and more than 285 firefighters battled it overnight. An earlier figure of 41 hectares, recorded on Thursday evening, shows how quickly the fire expanded.
Evacuations and the detention facility
Evacuation orders went out for the Encinal Canyon area, while warnings covered a large part of the Santa Monica Mountains. A large cloud of black smoke over the hilltops could be seen from miles away. The fire threatened a Los Angeles County juvenile detention and rehabilitative facility, which was evacuated on Thursday night. A responsible authority said 38 young people from the facility were brought to safety.
- Bryson Fire sparks in the hills above Malibu
- Juvenile detention facility evacuated as the fire threatens it
- National Weather Service red flag warning runs through Saturday evening, 17 October
Two more fires and conflicting figures
In Azusa, north of Los Angeles, a wind-driven fire burned more than 40 acres (16 hectares) on Thursday, and crews stopped its forward progress by mid-afternoon. Evacuation orders for a foothill neighborhood there were downgraded to warnings. At Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, military officials said evacuation orders for the Las Flores area were issued on Thursday afternoon and lifted by evening. Reports disagree on the Camp Pendleton burn: a French report gave 568 hectares (1,404 acres) for a blaze it called Henderson, while another report described about 3.8 square kilometers (1.5 square miles) burned.
Power shutoffs and a red flag warning
Utilities shut off power as a precaution, since some of California's worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment. Poweroutage.com showed more than 170,000 customers without electricity as of Friday, although other reports gave about 127,000 and more than 150,000. The National Weather Service forecast winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts of 50 to 70 mph in some areas, and its red flag warning runs through Saturday evening. Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, described the situation this way:
It's a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert.
Response and memories of 2025
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds, and the department asked the state's office of emergency services for assistance. Bass faced criticism over the city's response to the deadly fires of 2025. The Palisades and Eaton fires killed 31 people in January 2025 and destroyed more than 10,000 homes, and forecasters said the current winds were not expected to match the strength recorded then. LA County officials urged residents to check on neighbors who might need help, and to leave without waiting for an official alert if a nearby fire makes them feel unsafe.