California firefighters made progress Wednesday battling a Malibu wildfire that exploded under high winds this week, although more than 6,000 people remained forced from their homes, officials said.
The so-called Franklin Fire destroyed at least nine structures and damaged six others as it churned through hills in the seaside community, coming close to Pepperdine University, fire authorities said at a news conference Wednesday.
But better weather helped firefighters reach 7% containment of the fire, which as of Wednesday evening has burned around 4,035 acres, said Dusty Martin, an incident manager for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Today we saw the weather moderate, which allowed us to have a lot of success around the fire today,” Martin said…