Before the security gates of Serra Retreat in the Malibu area sits a small wall of luxury homes, many of them gated or walled off.
The area is home to celebrities such as Patrick Dempsey and, at one point, Mel Gibson.
The Franklin fire has been evacuated from the area, but the extent of the damage is not yet clear. Another house that had a lake was almost demolished; the other was little more than a chimney and a pile of smoldering rubbish.
Residents say that some cars were destroyed, some animals died during the fire.
Riding his e-bike as he looked at the houses was Alec Gellis, 31, who said he and another friend, Abel Rodgers, 33, stayed behind to save their home and protect their neighbors.
Gellis said it was around 11 at night when he was relaxing in his house and started hearing people screaming and honking. He said he went outside to see what the commotion was all about.
“I could smell smoke,” he said. “The sky was red, the whole canyon on the other side was lit up. … We were surrounded by flames.
“Practically everywhere you look there is fire,” he said.
He and Gellis jumped into action, grabbed a hose attached to a machine that was pumping water from the pool and began to submerge everything.
“The trees, the perimeter, the immersion everything,” Gellis said. “Monsoon style.”
He said he entered the neighbors’ premises and helped put out the fires. He said firefighters responded quickly, but they were also busy trying to put out the flames.
For five hours, Gellis and Rodgers put out the flames and repeatedly doused everything that could catch fire.
Gilles said coal was flying everywhere; he put on glasses in an effort to protect his eyes.
Then it was the second time he was left behind the fire. He said the first time was when the Woolsey fire broke out. That 2018 conflagration was also a wind-blown inferno. It destroyed 1,600 buildings from Westlake Village to Malibu.
The Franklin fire was reported a few minutes before 11 p.m. Monday on Malibu Canyon Road in the hills north of Pepperdine University. Fueled by strong Santa Ana winds, the blaze moved at breakneck speed, expanding to more than 2,700 acres as of Tuesday afternoon without stopping.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a press conference Tuesday morning that “a small number” of homes were destroyed, although he did not have an exact number of damaged structures. He urged residents to reduce the use of lawn sprinklers to maintain water pressure for firefighters.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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