(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-22 09:02

Fire crews early Sunday found downed power lines, which may have started the fire, Capt. Mike Brown said.

Late Sunday morning, palm trees bent in half and embers were carried through the air as winds gusted to 60 to 65 mph. Thick smoke obscured the sun.

Susan Nuttall sat in her black Mercedes in a cul-de-sac just off the Pacific Coast Highway, saying she had fled her condo just below Pepperdine University.

"We're all scared to death, and we have nowhere to go," said Nuttall, 51, still wearing a bathrobe and holding her Chihuahua.

Flames consumed the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows, as about a dozen residents watched from across a street. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.

Erratic wind gusts hampered efforts to drop water from aircraft and pushed flames toward HRL Laboratories, a research and engineering facility jointly owned by Boeing Co and General Motors Corp about a mile north of Pepperdine. One outbuilding caught fire, Boeing spokeswoman Diana Ball said.

Flames engulfed Malibu Presbyterian Church, which had been evacuated, said youth pastor Eric Smith. "That's the really good news, that everyone's out and safe," Smith said.

Faculty and staff at the 830-acre Pepperdine campus had been urged to evacuate in the morning and students were instructed to gather in the school's cafeteria and basketball arena.

But by early afternoon, the campus was "secure," Freeman said. Flames were no longer visible in the hills around the school and power to the campus had been restored, Pepperdine spokesman Jerry Derloshon said.

About 200 homes had been evacuated in the communities of Malibu Colony, Puerco Canyon, Monte Nido and Sweetwater Canyon, Brown said.

To the north, fire officials were focused on protecting Piru, a Ventura County town of 1,200 people across a small lake from the blaze. A condor preserve was also potentially threatened.

"There could be homes threatened by the end of the day Sunday if the fire continues to push to the south and southwest," US Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea told KNX radio.

Wildfires had been widely expected in Southern California during the weekend as the Santa Ana winds made their arrival from the desert.

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