An evacuation order is in place near the city of Malibu in the US state of California after a wildfire broke out with a “rapid rate of spread”.
The blaze has been dubbed the Franklin Fire by authorities, who say it has burned more than 300 acres in Malibu Canyon after starting at about 22:50 local time on Monday (06:50 GMT).
Firefighters are on the scene and a mandatory evacuation order is in place in the surrounding area.
It is not yet clear what caused the blaze, which has been labelled a brush fire – meaning a type of blaze that affects lower-lying vegetation such as grasses.
Update:Β 10:13Β Β ESTΒ 10-12-24
Just In: The Franklin fire started Monday night and had burned more than 1,800 acres by the early morning, as large parts of Southern California braced for dangerous wildfire conditions.
Just In: The fireβs footprint grew from 100 acres at 11:54 p.m. Monday to more than 1,800 acres about four hours later, according to the Los Angeles County Fire and CalFire officials β at one point nearly tripling in size in just one hour.
