A muddy hillside began giving way Wednesday in the back of a lavish three-story home in Malibu, rendering the building uninhabitable but causing no injuries.
The slide was reported about 3:45 p.m. in the 2800 block of Hume Road, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
"There's a 3-foot gap right there," inspector Randall Wright of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. "We don't know if it was caused by construction or sprinklers."
First responders said no one was at the house when they arrived at the scene, and neighbors said the homeowners were out of the country. The home has been red-tagged, meaning it is unsafe to occupy or enter, a fire department dispatch supervisor said.
Reports from the scene showed part of a backyard fence crumbled, with the sliding terrain reaching the rear of the home, although the house itself had not yet slid.
There did not appear to be any homes below the slide.
Building inspectors and water utility personnel were called to the scene and California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to secure the location, according to the fire department.
The cause of the landslide remains under investigation.
