Fire in San Diego’s Otay Mountain area explodes to 4,250 acres; evacuation orders, warnings issued

SAN DIEGO — Officials issued evacuation orders and warnings to nearby areas early Friday morning as a wildfire in the Otay Wilderness Area grew rapidly to 4,250 acres in difficult terrain overnight. Crews had been able to contain 10% of the fire.

The evacuation zone for the Border 2 fire covers a wide area, extending north to Otay Lakes Road, east to State Route 94 and Dulzura, and west to Lower Otay Lake. It encompasses the Otay Open Space Preserve.

State Route 94 was closed at Otay Lakes Road early on Friday morning. Road closures include Alta Road near Otay Mesa Road and Otay Lakes Road, Wueste Road to Pio Pico Campground, which is under an evacuation order.

The area where people need to evacuate is located west of the lake and encompasses the neighborhoods around the Olympic Training Center.

Due to safety and air quality concerns from the fire, the Chula Vista Elementary School District decided to close the following schools on Friday: Salt Creek, Camarena, Wolf Canyon, Olympic View, Liberty, Eastlake, Marshall, and Arroyo Vista. All other schools will continue to operate normally.

San Diego County Office of Education announced on Friday that schools in Mountain Empire Unified and Warner Unified school districts will also be closed on Friday.

According to sheriff's officials, a temporary evacuation point has been established at Regal Edwards Cinemas in Rancho San Diego, located at 2951 Jamacha Road in El Cajon. The Chula Vista Police Department advises residents living south and west of the lake to head to Southwestern College as an evacuation site, found at 900 Otay Lakes Road in Chula Vista.

"Firefighters are currently witnessing extremely intense fire activity," Captain Johnson of Cal Fire stated a few minutes past 4 a.m.

He said the main concern is the main fire spread, which is primarily moving north, with the fire also spurring in different directions.

He stated the fire is moving at a "moderate rate of speed" and is "spotting," where embers are being blown from the fire and can start new fires. Johnson said there is a windy condition and the temperatures are lower than they were in the past few days.

Strong Santa Ana winds have been affecting the area this week, with humidity levels as low as single digits even in coastal regions. It's also been very dry since July 1, resulting in dry and brittle brush. The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning, indicating severe fire weather conditions, for the San Diego valleys and mountains until 10 a.m. today.

In the middle of the night, thousands of San Diego Gas & Electric customers who live in rural and backcountry areas had their electricity turned off to prevent strong winds from knocking over power lines and possibly igniting a wildfire.

Strong east winds from Santa Ana winds caused many issues throughout early Friday morning. At Otay Mountain, gusts reached a high speed of nearly 30 mph, and humidity levels dropped to a very low 2%. It's not expected to rain in this area until the weekend. The weather should be around 75 degrees on Friday in the location where the fire is happening. Forecasters predict the temperature to be cooler on Saturday and scattered showers to potentially reach the fire area by Sunday.

Johnson stated there were approximately 200 firefighters present at the scene overnight, and the number is expected to increase as the day goes on. By about 6 a.m., teams had established a containment line around 10 percent of the fire's total area.

Incident commanders report that Cal Fire is also air-dropping water from two helicopters under the cover of night, with additional drop missions planned for daylight from chartered planes equipped with water tanks.

The agency first reported the fire shortly after 2:20 p.m. on Thursday, announcing on social media that it was a vegetation fire located on Otay Mountain Truck Trail within the Otay Wilderness Area.

Not long after the fire began, smoke led the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District to issue a smoke alert for the southwestern part of the county, covering Otay Mesa and surrounding regions.

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Staff writer Gary Robbins assisted with this story.

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