Evacuations have been lifted after a fire sparked south of UC San Diego on Thursday afternoon, but a second fast-moving fire in the Otay Mountain area is quickly growing.
Crews were able to keep the fire to 3 acres. About 175 firefighters responded to the scene, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Jose Ysea said.
When the La Jolla fire sparked, wind in the area was blowing 10 to 15 miles per hour, and the humidity was about 6 percent, with Santa Anas continuing to hit the region.
Evacuations were initially ordered for neighborhoods between North Torrey Pines Road, Gilman Drive and La Jolla Parkway. Areas to the west were warned to be ready to evacuate.
The fire broke out around 2 p.m. near Gilman Drive and Via Alicante and within 30 minutes had charred an acre, said Jose Ysea, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Camera footage from Alert San Diego — a camera system UC San Diego set up in remote areas to track wildfires — showed a plume of smoke rising among dense trees and near homes in La Jolla.
Just before 3:30 p.m., UC San Diego told the campus community in an email that forward spread had been stopped. “There is no immediate threat to campus,” its alert said.
High winds also forced the suspension of play nearby during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, the annual PGA golf tournament at Torrey Pines, shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday.
Fire crews were also responding to a fire in the Otay Mountain Wilderness just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.
The Border Fire near Otay Mountain Truck Trail in the wilderness east of Otay Mesa had reached 140 acres before 4 p.m. — but Cal Fire officials said the blaze had a “dangerous rate of spread” and “potential of 200 acres.”
In radio traffic, fire personnel could be heard requesting air support from multiple helicopters and air tankers.
The fire created a column of smoke that could be seen from Rancho San Diego, San Carlos and other areas.
The National Weather Service in San Diego reported winds in the area to be around 20 miles per hour with 5% humidity.
The fires come after crews spent much of the week dousing blazes in Mission Valley, Poway and other areas of the county amid dangerous fire conditions.
The latest blast of Santa Ana winds led to another round of power shutoffs by San Diego Gas & Electric to communities primarily located in mountainous and backcountry areas.
As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, nearly 17,000 SDG&E customers living mostly in rural and backcountry communities had circuits de-energized to help prevent high winds from causing power lines to fall to the ground and potentially igniting a wildfire.
Another 67,000 customers may potentially lose power if conditions worsen.
This story will be updated.
Staff writers Caleb Lunetta, Rob Nikolewski, Gary Robbins and Sam Schulz contributed to this story.
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