A fast-moving wildfire in rural East County charred more than 4,240 acres Wednesday, racing through bone-dry brush, injuring two people and destroying at least four buildings as the region baked under extreme heat.
By late Wednesday night, the fire was 5 percent contained but continued to rage, headed east toward Potrero.
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The fire led authorities to close the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Tecate, and state Route 94 was closed essentially from Campo to Dulzura. Schools in the Mountain Empire Unified School District and the Jamul-Dulzura Union School District will be closed Thursday.
The fire erupted around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday near Barrett Junction, east of Dulzura and a few miles northwest of Tecate, sending several residents near Barrett Lake Road north of SR-94 scrambling to evacuate. Smoke could be seen for miles.
Apolonio Gilbert said he was working in the Barret Lake Mobile Home Park when he saw flames and smoke in a nearby canyon. Gilbert, 62, jumped into his pickup and drove around the park, honking and warning people to get out. He and his wife grabbed their three dogs and fled.
The fire burned through the park, but no homes were lost, a Cal Fire San Diego official told anxious evacuees. In the early hours of the fire, moderate winds fanned it eastward along the highway. Gusts reached 27 miles per hour.
By 6 p.m. the fire jumped to the south side of SR-94 and burned “very aggressively” in the direction of Tecate and Potrero, Cal Fire San Diego Capt. Thomas Shoots said.
“The winds have died down, but the fire remains very active,” he said just before 8 p.m.
County officials said that as of 10:40 p.m., the fire had burned 4,243 acres and was 5 percent contained.
Shoots said there were “multiple close calls” as residents rushed to evacuate. At least four structures, including at least one residence, was destroyed, Shoots said.
“We had multiple 911 calls from folks unable to evacuate” because their homes were surrounded by the fire, Shoots said.
Mobile home park resident Martin Ledezma, 21, was at work when his mother called to tell him about the fire. He drove home, grabbed some belongings and started to flee, but stopped to help fire crews, using a shovel to help tamp down flames.
The park is a small community, he said, while he was covered in sweat and ash. “If one of us burns, we all burn.”
The fire raged as an excessive heatwave gripped the western states, and California’s grid operator called for consumers to cut energy use. Campo reached a blistering 105, tying a record high for that date, according to the National Weather Service. The heat will continue into next week.
The blaze started near Barrett Lake Road north of state Route 94 shortly after 2 p.m., Shoots said, and by 4:45 p.m. it had roared past 1,400 acres as it pushed northeast toward Potrero.
Two people suffered burns and were taken to hospitals. One was taken by ground. The other was flown in an air ambulance.
Nearly 600 people were ordered to evacuate, and nearly 800 were given evacuation warnings. More than 400 San Diego Gas & Electric customers lost power after flames damaged the electric system.
.@CALFIRESANDIEGO is at scene of a vegetation fire near Highway 94 and Barrett Lake Road. Fire is 2–3 acres, structure threat and road closures in area. Evacuate if you are in the immediate fire area and can do so safely. #Border32Fire pic.twitter.com/sISf4320aH
As the fire started to spread, the flames were racing toward homes in the Round Potrero Road area, Shoots said. Evacuations were ordered for that area, as well as residences along Barrett Lake Road and Coyote Holler Road, according to Shoots and the county Sheriff’s Department.
Watch Commander: Evacuations are being ordered for the Barrett Lake Road area as well as the Coyote Holler Road area. If you live in these locations, please evacuate now.
José Lopez and his wife were watching television inside their mobile home when they got alerts on their cellphones warning them to evacuate.
“We started preparing clothes and documents and things,” Lopez said. “Then the sheriff’s (deputies) began going through the park and saying, ‘you need to evacuate immediately.’ ”
He said as the couple drove away from the mobile home park, the flames were coming down a hill toward it. He didn’t know if his home would survive.
“It is what it is, you hope for the best,” said Lopez, who said that the flames had burned all the way to the edge of Barrett Lake Road as they fled.
Lopez’s wife went to an evacuation center at Jamul Casino, but Lopez stayed at the dirt lot on the corner down the road from the fire, hoping he’d be able to get home earlier.
David Galván lives about two miles up Barrett Lake Road off SR-94 and said he waited until the last minute to evacuate with his dog, Jack, who had crawled under his owner’s pickup. Galván, who works as a handyman, sprayed the roof of his home before he left.
“You could hardly breathe,” Galván said, his eyes still puffy and moist from inhaling the smoke a few hours earlier.
As neighbors who live along Barrett Lake Road — most of them from the Barrett Lake Mobile Home Park — gathered at the corner where their street meets SR-94, a Cal Fire official approached and told them it would be a “day or two” until they’d be able to go back home.
“It’s not over, but we’re doing well up there,” said the firefighter, who declined to give his name. “When I went through the trailer park, at that time — and it was not over — but it has burned through, and there could be embers, but all the trailers were saved.”
Crews attacked the flames from the air and from the ground. “We’ve requested every wildland engine from Cal Fire in San Diego County,” Shoots said.
By 5:30 p.m., more than 200 firefighters were battling the fire and “many more” were enroute, Shoots said. Six air tankers, seven helicopters and several fixed-wing aircraft have been deployed, he said.
None of the aircraft was equipped to fly at night.
Caltrans San Diego said it was unknown when the highways would reopen.
This @ReadySanDiego map shows the areas affected by the #Border32Fire. The areas in purple are under an evacuation order. The clear areas are under an evacuation warning. The red outline shows the fire. If you feel you are danger, don't wait ... GO! https://t.co/pEgUAVosDd pic.twitter.com/htJXHwWhhs
Authorities set up a temporary evacuation point at Jamul Casino, and a second evacuation point was set up at Camp Lockett Event & Equestrian Facility at 799 Forrest Gate Road in Campo. The Campo site is accepting large animals.
As of late Wednesday, the Jamul Casino evacuation site was closed. County officials set up an overnight shelter at Mountain Empire High School on Buckman Springs Road near Pine Valley.
Families with pets and large animals can go to the San Diego County Animal Shelter at 5821 Sweetwater Road in Bonita.
.@CHP_San_Diego has both Eastbound and Westbound closed on SR-94 near Bowmans Road due to a brush fire in the area. ETA for reopening unknown. https://t.co/pt1qWYrd24 pic.twitter.com/KY1b66Wkxu
Staff writer Karen Kucher contributed to this report.
11:33 p.m. Aug. 31, 2022: This story was updated with new details about the fire, including its size and containment level.
11:13 p.m. Aug. 31, 2022: This story was updated with information about Jamul-Dulzura Union closing its schools Thursday.
9:12 p.m. Aug. 31, 2022: This story was updated to add that two people were injured, and adds interviews with residents of the Barrett Lake area.
4:56 p.m. Aug. 31, 2022: This story was updated with new information about the size of the blaze and four structures being destroyed.
4:05 p.m. Aug. 31, 2022: This story was updated with a new size estimate and details on the structure that was confirmed destroyed.
3:48 p.m. Aug. 31, 2022: This story was updated with additional details.
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