A fire in Malibu has burned five homes and a church, authorities said.

The Malibu Fire had burned 2,000 acres by 2 p.m. Sunday, said Capt. Kurt Schaefer with the L.A. County Fire Department. There were no injuries, but five homes and one church had been lost. In addition, five homes and five commercial properties were damaged.

At around 1 p.m., the fire was moving east, away from Ventura County, he said.

The blaze had jumped the Pacific Coast Highway, closing the popular road and setting fire to cars and trees in shopping center parking lots along the route. The fire is believed to have started accidentally.

The fire department ordered mandatory evacuations in the Carbon Canyon and Big Rock areas, which had been under voluntary evacuations earlier in the day.

"Anyone in this general area of Malibu needs to put themselves on alert, and they need to be prepared to evacuate," Schaefer said.

That's because erratic winds, which were expected to blow through Wednesday, could change the direction of the fire at any time, he said. The winds made it difficult to approach the fire safely and to drop water accurately, he said.

Television news video showed clusters of beachside homes ablaze.

In the Malibu Hills one of the destroyed homes was a landmark castle. Flames consumed Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows, as about a dozen residents watched from across the street. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.

Erratic wind gusts pushed flames toward the Hughes Lab technology research campus, about a mile north of Pepperdine.

Flames engulfed Malibu Presbyterian Church, which had been evacuated, said youth pastor Eric Smith. "That's the really good news, that everyone's out and safe," Smith said.

There are 500 firefighters on scene, mostly from Los Angeles County Fire Department and Los Angeles City Fire Department providing mutual aid.

"Things are really dynamic," Schaeffer said.

At Pepperdine University, roughly 2,000 students, faculty and staff were being sheltered in three buildings on campus, said spokesman Jerry Derloshon.

Officials checked dorm rooms to make sure everyone was out, and the people were in the shelter buildings by 8 a.m., he said.

University policy dictates that people be sheltered on campus during a fire for safety reasons, Derloshon said.

"That's the safest place to be in a fire in Malibu," he said.

No one at Pepperdine has been injured. Two or three cars, and some patches of landscape, had been burned.

At about 11 a.m., students held an impromptu prayer service, Derloshon said.

Pepperdine is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

The university has enough food, water and provisions to last for several days, Derloshon said.

All campus events scheduled today have been canceled.

Susan Nuttall sat in her black Mercedes in a cul-de-sac just off the Pacific Coast Highway, saying she had fled her condo just below the Pepperdine campus.

Palm trees bent in half, and embers were carried through the air as wind gusted to 60 to 65 mph. Thick smoke obscured the sun.

"We're all scared to death, and we have nowhere to go," said Nuttall, 51, still wearing a bathrobe and holding her Chihuahua.

Mitra Rajabi came to get her 80-year-old mother from her home near Pepperdine.

"We've been through this before, but it's never been this bad," said Rajabi, 39, of Pacific Palisades. "It was like a war zone."

Los Angeles County Fire Captain Andrew Olvera said, "We're dealing with Santa Anas coming in from the southwest. People are our number one priority."