The massive wildfire burning near the U.S.-Mexico border grew by another 200 acres overnight and remained 10% contained.
Cal Fire officials said Saturday the Border 2 fire in the Otay wilderness had burned 6,500 acres. From Los Angeles to the border, fire officials remain hopeful a Pacific storm late Saturday could bring enough rain and snow to slow wildfires.
The fire started Thursday afternoon and spread quickly with high winds through much of Friday. The growth overnight was relatively small compared to what the region had experienced for the last two days.
A thick smell of smoke has engulfed dense residential areas of Chula Vista, including Eastlake and Otay Ranch. In a promising sign, no new evacuation orders had been issued since Friday afternoon as winds have slowed.
Jonathan Pangburn, a forester with Cal Fire, told firefighters at a briefing Saturday that there was a chance of rain aiding the fight, but it wasn’t a guarantee.
“There is a chance of maybe a little bit of (precipitation) into the evening hours and then overnight trying to get potentially as much as a tenth to a quarter inch (of rain),” he said. “However, don’t count on that affecting your fire behavior. It’s going to take a while before that starts influencing your fuels.”
CalFire said it anticipates wind blowing west away from residential areas in the evening hours. Areas to the east of the blaze are mainly wilderness, although smoke will also affect the much more populated Tijuana side of the border.
Aiding the blaze is the Lower Otay Reservoir, providing a barrier between residential areas and providing water, carried by helicopters, on to hot spots.
Many San Diego County firefighters have been running from fire to fire all week. The biggest of them all has been the Border 2 Fire, with nearly 700 firefighters assigned to stopping it. Despite its size, no one appears to have been injured, nor have any structures burned.
Concerns about the quality of the air helped shutter a number of schools Friday, from Eastlake High to Arroyo Vista Charter. Eight institutions from the Chula Vista Elementary School District closed their doors. The same went for schools in the Dehesa, Mountain Empire Unified and Warner Unified districts, according to the San Diego County Office of Education.
For a map with updated emergency evacuation information visit: OES Emergency Map.
