An uncontrolled fire forces thousands of people to evacuate in Malibu

A terrifying fire devastated Malibu this Tuesday (California, United States), where it has destroyed homes and forced at least 6,000 people to leave their homes in one of the most coveted areas of the United States.

Multimillion-dollar properties, some of them owned by Hollywood celebrities, were in the path of the fire, which broke out during the night and it was fanned by powerful winds and fed by dry weeds, like tinder.

Firefighters were fighting their way through the steep canyons that surround the luxurious Californian enclave, where towering flames They devoured the slopes and covered the air with suffocating smoke..

«We were completely surrounded. It was around 11 at night. We heard people scream. I went out into the street and the sky was bright red. In 45 minutes, it went down the hillside and, an hour later, the houses were burning,” one of the residents of the area, who only gave his first name, Alec, told the KTLA station.

More than 18,000 people They live in the area threatened by the flames, where some 8,000 properties are built, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. “The safety of our community members is our number one priority,” he told reporters.

Sheriff’s deputies went door to door urging people to leave the area when the flames began to spread Monday night. Residents said they had only moments to flee as embers raised by the wind rained down around them.

By Tuesday morning, the fire had grown to more than 900 hectares and remained out of control, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of a “red flag warning” of high danger due to high winds.