Jessica Jones and Matthew Ryder grabbed their essentials before the Franklin fire reached their Serra Retreat home.

Important documents. Bags full of clothes. Three goats. A pot-bellied pig.

Jones and Ryder, both 37, saw the flames coming down a ridge overlooking the ranch they rented sometime around 11:30 p.m. Monday.

Escaping a forest fire is stressful enough, but adding livestock to the mix can complicate things even further.

The goats, children Willie and Russell and mother Ginger, were easily placed in the back of the couple’s pickup truck.

But year-old pig Penelope fought back when it was time to go.

“She screamed loudly,” Ryder said. “She usually doesn’t like being picked up.”

The fire reached the property as the couple was leaving around midnight and they were waiting on the shore of the Pacific Coast Highway to plan where to go next. They slept in their truck in a trail parking lot and arrived at the Palisades Park evacuation center around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“It was crazy,” Jones said.

A hill burns during the Franklin Fire in Malibu.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“As we set out, the bright red flames and glow of the fire could be seen around the ridgeline.”

Jones, who grew up in the Australian bushland, is familiar with packing for wildfires, but felt she was a bit caught off guard by this fire.

“I wish we had brought more stuff or been better prepared this time,” she said. “I guess you could say we were a little complacent.”

“You always hear about wildfires and the Santa Ana winds around Malibu,” said Ryder, who has lived in the area for about two years. “But you never really think about it until a fire marches down the slopes.”

The couple planned to return home after the Pacific Coast Highway reopened, but it remained unclear when that would happen.

The eastern half of Malibu was ordered to be evacuated, and an evacuation warning was in effect for the rest of the city, affecting approximately 18,000 people. The evacuation order applies to more than 2,000 buildings and an evacuation warning is in place for another 6,000.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a news conference Tuesday morning that a “minimal number” of homes had been destroyed, although he did not have an exact number of structures damaged. He urged residents to limit the use of lawn sprinklers to maintain water pressure for firefighters.

About 700 firefighters battled the blaze on site Tuesday morning, building containment lines as aircraft dropped water on the blaze. The planes were able to fly most of the night and into the early morning hours, even in high winds, Marrone said.

At 8:30 a.m., Willie the goat was roaming on a leash in a parking lot and Penelope the pig was dozing quietly in a crate.