SAN DIEGO _ The fast-moving brush fire that ignited Saturday in the Japatul Valley area southeast of Alpine has scorched 4,000 acres and destroyed 10 structures, Cal Fire officials said Sunday.
The blaze is 0% contained.
Residents in the community of Carveacre were evacuated and two emergency shelters were set up: one at Steele Canyon High School in Jamul and the other at Joan MacQueen Middle School in Alpine. The second shelter was closed for several hours on Sunday, but reopened in the afternoon. Power lines in the area were also affected during the fire, causing some in the area to lose service.
The blaze _ dubbed the Valley fire _ was likely ignited by a tractor fire around 2:50 p.m. Saturday on Carvacre Lane, residents said, however Cal Fire has not officially confirmed the cause and is still investigating.
As of 7 a.m. Sunday, there were several hundred firefighters on the ground and multiple air tankers and firefighting helicopters in the sky battling the blaze.
CalFire couldn't say what kind of structures were destroyed by the blaze, but at least two were homes on Montiel Truck Trail in Jamul, according to footage aired by 10News.
The fire is threatening additional structures in the Carveacre and Lawson Valley, and four additional streets were closed Sunday morning: Gaskill Peak Road, Lost Trail, Hondo Lane and Emmanuel Way. Lyons Valley Road between Japatul Road and Honey Springs Road was evacuated later that afternoon.
A number of challenges are expected to complicate Sunday's fire fight, officials said.
"Certainly the temperature is going to be a challenge," said Cal Fire spokesman Kendal Bortisser. "The steep terrain, all of the inaccessible areas, old growth that's been there for a long time that's tinder dry and ready to burn _ all of those are going to be factors."
Conditions fire crews are facing are brutal. Yesterday, temperatures at the scene were recorded between 110 to 115 degrees. Today they will dip to around 109 degrees, but Jake Rodriguez, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service and Cleveland National Forest, said that winds up to 20 miles per hour from the east and northeast are expected to kick up in the afternoon.
"That can be significant. It's not quite a Santa Ana, but that means it starts pushing the fire instead of the fire following the topography of the land," Rodriguez said. "Whichever way the wind is blowing the fire will go, and it can start spotting, which means embers are carried up to a half-mile in front of the fires and starting new spot fires."
The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District advised residents to assume that air quality levels are unhealthy for all individuals but particularly sensitive groups in areas with heavy smoke.
"In areas where you smell smoke is it advised that you limit physical/outdoor activity," the district said in a statement. "If possible, stay indoors to limit your exposure to fine particulate matter and ozone, especially those residents with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly and children."
Red Cross officials said 16 families have sought shelter at the Steele Canyon evacuation site. About ten families sought assistance at the Joan MacQueen site on Saturday, but left after receiving help with accommodations.
Bill Fincher, who lives in Lawson Valley said most of his family, including three dogs and a lizard, evacuated their home and headed to the Steele Canyon shelter as the sun set Saturday. His wife, Rachelle, stayed at their ranch with their 17 cats and 13 chickens.
"She said, 'Until I see flames, I'm not leaving,'" Fincher said. "I talked to her today. She said the house looks good."
Fincher's son, Brandon Fincher, goes to school in Prescott, Arizona, and decided to visit his family over the weekend with a friend. The two saw smoke from the blaze as they were pulling into town and watched from the house as the plume of smoke grew.
"Then we heard an explosion like a propane tank in the distance," the younger Fincher said. "Once the sun went down and we could see flames in the distance, we thought, 'Oh, we should go.'"
As they were leaving, the power went out.
SDG&E said its Sunrise Powerlink, a 117-mile transmission line that connects renewable energy resources from Imperial Valley to San Diego, was out of service.
Helicopters on Sunday morning were washing the lines to remove soot and other residue that settled on the equipment during the blaze. Pilots in choppers were also inspecting the line to see if it had been damaged.
SDG&E officials said as soon as CalFire advises the utility that it's safe to go into the area, utility crews will move in and determine what is required to get the line back into service.
Family pets are welcome at the Steele Canyon location. Sheriff's officials said large pets can be housed at the county's Animal Services South Shelter located at 5821 Sweetwater Road in Bonita.
Because some residents had to evacuate quickly _ or they weren't home when the fire began and now roads to their properties are blocked off _ many animals were left behind in the fire zone.
Nina Thompson with the San Diego Humane Society said that since Saturday afternoon a team of 20 emergency response workers from the society and the county Department of Animal Services have been conducting numerous animal rescues, deploying from a staging area at 2959 Jamacha Road in Rancho San Diego.
Some homeowners fleeing the fire Saturday didn't have trailers for their horses, so in a last-ditch effort to save the animals, they released them from their stalls to run free.
Thompson said this can be dangerous for horses because the water drops from helicopters and planes can spook them, and the extreme heat and lack of water can cause dehydration.
She recommends calling the Humane Society for an emergency evacuation at (619) 299-7012, ext.1., or the San Diego County Department of Animal Services at (619) 236-2341.
Thompson said the team worked until 10 p.m. Saturday night and started working again at 7 a.m. today. She didn't know how many evacuations had been conducted so far, but said one of the most intense was on Saturday evening, when a pair of horses was loaded into a trailer and driven from a home at the north end of Lawson Valley Road in Jamul that appeared to be just a few hundred yards from approaching fire.
The Humane Society is offering emergency boarding services, and its campuses are open to the public as "cool zones." For evacuees seeking shelter with their dogs, cats and small companion animals, they should go to the evacuation center at Steele Canyon High School. Evacuees with horses and other large livestock should take them to the county's Animal Services shelter at 5821 Sweetwater Road in Bonita. Pet food and supplied are also available for pickup at the Humane Society's San Diego, Oceanside and Escondido campuses beginning Tuesday.
Thompson said the stress associated with an evacuation order can lead homeowners to leave behind essential items that their pets will need, so they have posted a pet emergency checklist on their website at sdhumane.org/disasterpreparedness.
Tom Hurley did his best to save his many animals, but he just couldn't get to all of them in time.
"I think I've got seven chickens left out of 100," Hurley said.
"My emu jumped over a 6-foot-tall fence. My trailer is still there. But everything else is just kind of burnt. I'm numb honestly. I'm numb as hell. I don't have any feelings right now except for my animals."
He almost lost one of his seven dogs, as well. Hurley couldn't find his 14-year-old red heeler, Dutch, before he was forced to evacuate last night. But when he went back to his property Sunday morning, Dutch came running over.
"I just knew that he knew he was safe," Hurley said. "I have no idea what he went through last night with the fire and the smoke. His feet were pretty well burned."
Despite Hurley's losses, he was luckier than some of his neighbors. One friend lost several buildings including barns, out buildings and garages. Another friend's house burned to the ground.
"There's literally nothing left, not a single thing left," Hurley said. "He had a two-car garage, a beautiful home. There's literally nothing. Just the foundation."
