Thousands of Southern California residents were under evacuation orders Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu that burned near seaside mansions and Pepperdine University, where students sheltering at the school's library watched as the blaze intensified and the sky turned deep red.

A rapidly intensifying wildfire burning just northwest of Los Angeles forced some residents in Malibu to evacuate as it threatened homes, knocked out power and closed roads in the beach community. The brush fire blaze,