Malibu fire evacuees start returning home as blaze now 30% contained

Some 3,700 evacuees from the Malibu wildfire returned home on Thursday as firefighters made progress in battling the blaze that has destroyed at least six homes in the beach community that is a popular retreat for Hollywood celebrities.

The so-called Franklin Fire has charred 4,037 acres (1,664 hectares) of rugged hilly terrain in the coastal city just northwest of Los Angeles and was 30% contained, Cal Fire said.

"Today, to be able to get 3,700 residents back into their homes and their communities is a big win. However, the work is not done" with another 1,600 people still out of their homes, said Dusty Martin, of the incident commanders for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), at a public forum.

Some 5,600 homes plus another 2,000 structures were in the fire zone, where 22,000 people were affected, officials said.

Six homes and six minor structures were destroyed while another 10 homes and one structure were damaged, said Albert Yanagisawa, deputy fire chief for Los Angeles County.

Firefighters were protecting buildings in the secluded hills above the Pacific Ocean while establishing and reinforcing the fire's perimeter control, Cal Fire said in an online post.

The cause of the fire, which began on Monday, has yet to be determined and no deaths or injuries were reported. Thousands evacuated their homes, including celebrities Dick Van Dyke and Cher, as schools and businesses shut their doors.

Firefighters said increased humidity and lighter winds helped them make progress as containment increased to 30% from 20% a few hours earlier on Thursday.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Rich McKay in Atlanta and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Mark Porter, Sandra Maler and Shri Navaratnam)