'Dangerous' Franklin Fire with 'rapid rate of spread' threatens homes and university in Malibu

It is not yet known how the blaze, named the Franklin Fire, started.

LA County Fire Department officials estimated that at least 2.6 square miles have been burned, with homes and buildings threatened.

Authorities in Malibu also said the fire has a "rapid rate of spread", with around 6,000 residents ordered to evacuate.

Electricity has been shut off to mitigate the impacts of California's notorious Santa Ana winds - dry and warm northeast gusts that blow from the interior of Southern California towards the coast and offshore. They typically occur during the autumn months and continue through winter and into early spring.

In some areas where the fire has been spreading, wind speeds of up to 65mph were expected.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning with a rare caution of a "particularly dangerous situation" starting on Monday evening into Tuesday for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The blaze is just north of Malibu - a small, wealthy city of around 10,000 people that is popular with celebrities.

The fire has also spread near Pepperdine University, which cancelled classes and directed students and employees to shelter at a library or campus centre.

Gabrielle Salgado, one student who sought safety from the fire in the library, told KABC-TV "seeing the flames grow" was "so scary".

In a statement online, the university said the worst of the danger from the fire had passed.

But it added there were smaller fires on campus, which weren't thought to be a major risk to life or buildings.

Fire engines were on campus to deal with these flames, the university said.

Helicopters collected water from a lake in the university's Alumni Park to drop on the blaze nearby.

California is prone to devastating wildfires.

Just last month, thousands were forced to evacuate "extreme and life-threatening blazes" in Ventura county.

-SKY NEWS