Bryson Fire Smoke Rises Over Malibu Hills As Winds Batter Pacific Coast Highway

A wide plume of smoke from the Bryson Fire rose behind the hills above Malibu as strong winds whipped palm trees along Pacific Coast Highway.

X user Dilara Esengil filmed the scene from a moving car near Trancas and Encinal Canyon on the evening of October 15, 2026.

The video shows brownish-grey smoke spreading across a clear sky in the low golden light. No flames are visible. The car passes the Trancas Country Market and a gas station while tall palm trees lean hard in the wind.

“There it is. Here’s Trancas. Here’s the beginning of the Bryson Fire,” she says.

“I know it kinda sucks that I’m talking about this like it’s just another day in Malibu, but that’s what it’s become.”

She says the wind event led to power shutoffs, park closures and road closures. “They closed down roads. And now this,” she says.

“I have a feeling this is gonna get pretty crazy. I don’t think this is the end of what we’re seeing.”