A fire broke out in red flag conditions on a Malibu hillside. Toni Guinyard reports for the NBC4 News at 11 a.m. on Monday Jan. 29, 2018.
An early morning brush fire forced mandatory evacuations in the Malibu area during a warm, dry and windy start to Monday.
Those evacuations were lifted around 5:30 a.m. after water drops helped firefighters increase containment lines around the small fire, which was reported just before 3:15 a.m. in the 23500 block of Civic Center Way in Malibu.
Officials with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Malibu/Lost Hills station confirmed that the fire started behind the Malibu Library. A cause was not immediately determined.
Containment was at 95 percent at about 5 a.m.
The fire forced mandatory evacuations for the areas of Harbor Vista Drive, Colony View Circle, and Malibu Crest Drive.
The fire burned during a day of increased fire danger in Southern California due to warm, dry and windy conditions. A strike team was deployed earlier in the area in anticipation of Monday's warm, dry and windy weather.
"It doesn't matter that it's January, these fires can spread all year round," said NBC4 forecaster Shanna Mendiola. "Those gusty conditions are expected to continue through the evening."
Another small, early morning fire was reported in the Oxnard area.
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Nearly 120 fires have been reported through Jan. 21 this year in California. Through Jan. 21 of 2016, one of the state's wettest winters in years, Cal Fire reported just 12 fires. California's five-year average for that timeframe is 86 fires.
The agency reported 7,117 fires that burned 505,956 acres last year when brush that sprouted following winter rainstorms turned into fuel for fires during a hot, dry summer. In 2016, Cal Fire reported 4,785 fires that scorched 244,319 acres.
