Students crowded into the Pepperdine University library watched through the windows as flames spread across the Santa Monica Mountains.

Some students prayed. Others called their parents as the wind blew embers across campus, setting palm trees on fire and drawing orange flames closer and closer to their building.

Some, when told to stay away from the windows, wondered aloud whether not leaving campus had been a fatal mistake.

“It was terrifying,” said Matthew Morrison, an 18-year-old drama student who watched the fire from the first floor of the library. “The fire was so intense it felt like it was breaking the windows.”

As the Franklin fire raged across Malibu in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Pepperdine University officials urged students and faculty to remain on campus in the university’s fireproof buildings, even if they were in the middle of Malibu’s fire rescue zone.

University officials followed a tried-and-tested plan: Pepperdine’s policy of housing students in fireproof structures when wildfires threaten Malibu has been in effect since 1993. The University notes that its shelter-in-place policy is supported and reviewed annually by the Los Angeles University Fire Department of Angeles County. In an emergency FAQ, the university notes that no campus buildings were destroyed by wildfires.

On Monday evening, many students on the Christian campus between the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean were preparing for final exams when the power went out after 11 p.m. Campus officials sent out alerts asking them to leave their dorms and go to the university’s fireproof buildings.

“All community members on the Malibu campus are directed to seek shelter at the Tyler Campus Center or Payson Library,” Pepperdine said on X at 1:09 a.m. Tuesday.

Morrison was asleep after a long day of preparing for final exams when his roommates woke him up. “Hey, we have to go!” they shouted. “Pack a to-go bag!”

He threw his wallet, laptop, water and granola bars into a duffel bag. As he made his way to the library, the air outside his dorm was filled with smoke. But Morrison wasn’t afraid. The fire was still off campus. Above all, he was annoyed that he couldn’t sleep the night before three important exams.

Some students left campus. But Morrison said he thought it would be more dangerous to walk away and potentially get stuck on a narrow road.

“I understand that people leaving at 11 p.m. or midnight wanted to get out,” Morrison said. “But after that, the fire was so close that it wasn’t even worth taking the risk of walking away and getting caught in traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway with fire all around you.”

Pepperdine staff handed out masks to students to protect themselves from the smoke. Fire trucks drove onto campus to fight the flames. And as the fire grew closer, some of those looking out the library windows became agitated.

Video posted on Pepperdine Graphic Media showed students pacing inside a campus building as they watched flames hit the trees outside. Some students on campus questioned university policies.

“Don’t go,” a voice pleads in the video as students obviously excitedly discuss their options.

“Just seeing the flames get bigger and the bright red color of the fire getting brighter and brighter, it was so scary,” Gabrielle Salgado, a journalism major, told KABC-TV.

“A lot of people asked, ‘Why are we here?'” said Henry Adams, a student and journalist at Pepperdine Graphic who followed the news from off campus. Some students, Adams said, may not have understood why Pepperdine had developed a shelter-in-place policy.

“Perhaps this could be communicated more effectively,” Adams said, “so that students … understand that there is a reason why this is the protocol.”

Pepperdine developed its stay-in-place policy after the 1985 Piuma fire caused students to leave their residence halls. Officials assumed it would be safer to build fireproof buildings than to quickly evacuate thousands of people on Malibu’s narrow streets. Buildings on the 830-acre campus are now constructed of fire-resistant materials whenever possible and brush is cleared at least 200 feet from buildings.

Over the past 30 years, Pepperdine students have sought shelter as a series of fires broke out, from Old Topanga in 1993 to Woolsey in 2018. During the latter inferno, which destroyed 1,600 buildings from Westlake Village to Malibu, the Questions and criticizes the school’s policies. Some students expressed fear about remaining on campus. Meanwhile, some community members complained that the university’s housing policy had resulted in fire department resources being diverted from other parts of Malibu.

Around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, the school said, the worst of the Franklin fires swept through the Malibu campus. The university noted that small, isolated fires continued, but none threatened buildings or lives.

Around 7:30 a.m., officials lifted the shelter-in-place protocol and asked students to return to their dorms. As spot fires continued to flare up, officials urged students and staff to remain on campus.

Classes were canceled on Tuesday and final exams were postponed. University officials said in a news release that they were actively monitoring conditions on and around campus, but there was little damage to campus structures and no reports of injuries among students, faculty or staff.

“The safety of our students, faculty and staff remains our top priority, and we will do everything in our power to continue to support them in the days ahead,” Pepperdine President Jim Gash said in a statement. “As we overcome this challenge, we will remain rooted in faith, lean on one another, and together, with God’s help, serve our Malibu community.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, as the power continued to be out, the university reinstated its protective protocol and canceled

After walking around campus on Tuesday, Morrison said the normally lush green campus was burned black and brown and littered with many fallen palm trees. Most students were shocked and worried about when they would take their final exams.

Morrison said he was scheduled to take three exams on Tuesday – religion, acting and stage design – and he was unable to take them on Wednesday because he was scheduled to fly to Texas for the holidays.

“I think I’m still in shock right now,” Morrison said after a morning nap.

“When I laid down in bed and tried to sleep, it hit me straight away,” he said. “Last night was one of those moments, I didn’t know if I was going to see my family again.”