Evacuations lifted as crews advance on fire near San Diego
Firefighter Justin Heiser (left) and Fire Captain John Burningham, both with Viejas Fire Department, watch as a helicopter drops water on flames as a brushfire burns next to Otay Lakes Road near Highway 94 on Saturday, May 20, 2017, in Jamul, California. A fast-moving wildfire has forced several hundred campers to flee a campground south of San Diego. (Photo by HAYNE PALMOUR IV / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
JAMUL, California — A criminal investigation has been launched into the origin of a brush fire that forced hundreds of people to evacuate over the weekend southeast of San Diego, authorities said.
All evacuation orders were lifted early Monday and the blaze was 95 percent contained after scorching more than 8.3 square kilometers (3 square miles) of dry brush near Jamul (HAH-mul), the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
A video posted to social media appeared to show the start of the fire in an area of US Bureau of Land Management property, Capt. Issac Sanchez told the Union-Tribune Sunday. He wouldn’t say whether investigators suspected the fire sparked Saturday was intentionally set.
The video showed two people standing next to a patch of smoking brush, and two others running toward it. Soon after, the smoldering vegetation caught fire, and the four were seen walking away, the newspaper reported.
Another part of the video showed a firetruck arriving. A nearby hillside was already blackened.
Occupants of rural homes and the Pio Pico RV Resort and Campground were ordered to leave as flames spread rapidly amid dry, hot conditions.
A rise in humidity allowed firefighters to advance on the blaze and have it nearly surrounded Monday.
No injuries were reported./rga
