(NewsNation) — Pepperdine University students were among many Malibu residents subjected to the Franklin Fire currently raging in Southern California.
Crews with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the blaze, dubbed the Franklin Fire, near Malibu Canyon Road and Station Boundary at around 10:45 p.m.
As of 2 a.m., the fire was mapped at 853 acres with no containment. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Nicholas Gerding, a student at Pepperdine University, joined “NewsNation Now” to discuss how close the Franklin wildfire came to their shelter-in-place spot on campus.
“The worst part was when it was right up against the windows of the library, and that was the scariest because they ordered us to stay away from those windows, and we all kind of huddled in the middle of the library for about 30 minutes before those fires were kind of taken care of,” Gerding said.
“There were about 30 minutes where I genuinely did not know if I was going to be okay or not. … It was really looking like it wasn’t going to go well, and coming to terms with the fact my life might end today was a hard 30 minutes to sit through and kind of manage,” he added.
Shelter-in-place orders have since been lifted, with students either choosing to leave campus, return to their dorms or remain in the library, according to Gerding.
