Brush Fire Sparks Along SR-76 Near Pala Casino, Evacuation Warnings Lifted
The fire has grown to 350 acres and is 0% contained. All road closures and evacuation warnings have been lifted
Cal Fire is battling a brush fire along State Route 76, east of Interstate 15 near Pala Casino that prompted brief road closures and evacuation warnings in the area.
The fire sparked just before 2:30 p.m. west of the casino, according to Cal Fire. The agency is calling it the Mesa Fire, and said it had grown to 350 acres as of 6:45 p.m. The fire is 0% contained and has a slow rate of spread, Cal Fire said.
"It started at the base of a very steep slope and ran up that slope relatively quickly, so we are trying to get a good stop at the ridge to keep it from spreading further," Cal Fire Captain Frank Lococo said.
Evacuation warnings were lifted at around 8:45 p.m. and temporary evacuation points set up at the I-15/SR-76 Park and Ride and Valley Center High School were shut down.
Local
Dennis Trujillo was ion Temecula when the fire broke out, and headed back home when he learned it was threatening his neighborhood. The closer he got, the better look he had at the tall plume of smoke rising above the burn area.
"[We were worried about] our house, for sure, and then we have some dogs, too, and a lot of personal belongings," he said.
The Trujillos and other residents of San Diego County's rural area know the threat of wildfires never really goes away.
"We're still in a drought, so that's a big concern because being that Pala is such a small community and we're in the valley, it's scary. It almost seems like we can get trapped," Trujillo said.
SR-76 was reopened in both directions shortly before 8 p.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Cal Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.
A smoke advisory was issued in the area, and residents who can smell smoke are advised to limit physical/outdoor activity and assume air quality levels are unhealthy, especially those residents with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children. Details here.
SkyRanger 7 was flying above the fire as helicopters and planes dumped water and pink fire retardant over the flames. The fire burned close to an unidentified structure at the base of a hill, but was climbing up the hill away from it as of 3:20 p.m. Much of the water and retardant drops were aimed along the ridge of the hill in an effort to stop the flames from burning over the top and down the other side, Capt. Lococo said.
A small pond near the origin of the fire allowed firefighting aircraft to quickly refill their tanks after making water dumps over the flames.
No injuries or structural damages have been reported.
NBC 7 meteorologist Dagmar Midcap said a slightly saturated atmosphere was helping in the fight against the Mesa Fire, and said dry fuels may have been dampened by light morning rain.
No other information was available.
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Brush Fire Sparks Along SR-76 Near Pala Casino, Evacuation Warnings Lifted - NBC San Diego
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