MALIBU, Calif. — Residents began making their way through back streets and dirt roads Sunday afternoon into evacuated areas of this upscale community to see whether their homes survived a wildfire that scorched surrounding brush-covered hills.
Some homes along a road near the source of the blaze had been reduced to blackened wrecks, while others were barely damaged.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to it,” said Frank Churchill, who returned home with his wife and four children to find his white stucco home largely undamaged, while three surrounding homes were leveled. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Fifty homes were destroyed Saturday by the fast-moving wildfire, pushed by Santa Ana winds. Twenty-seven other homes were damaged, and 10,000 to 14,000 people remained under evacuation orders.
The fire, which had scorched 4,720 acres since early Saturday, was about 40 percent contained, with few flames visible to water-dropping helicopters deployed over the fire zone, said Ron Haralson, Los Angeles County fire inspector.
By late Sunday morning, skies had cleared, and the column of smoke billowing over the hills had all but vanished.
Investigators had determined that the fire, which broke out along a dirt road, was caused by humans but had not determined whether it was started intentionally, said county Fire Inspector Rick Dominguez.
Sheriff’s deputies with dogs on Sunday surveyed the roadside area, which neighbors said is a popular spot for late-night outdoor partying by young people.
“I’ve been up there and seen howling groups of teenagers drinking,” nearby resident Ricardo Means, 57, said of the rugged spot near the top of his winding street.
