Time-Lapse Cam Shows Wildfire Grow

Control Of Horse Fire Expected Over Weekend

POSTED: 6:37 am PDT July 28, 2006

UPDATED: 9:51 am PDT July 28, 2006

LAKE MORENA, Calif. -- Time-lapse photography from a camera mounted on a backcountry peak shows the rapid development of the East County wildfire that has blackened 16,700 acres.

Images: Time-Lapse Cam Shows Wildfire Grow
Map: Horse Fire (July 26)
Images: Horse Fire Burns Out Of Control

The camera is one of several operated by the Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, NBC 7/39 reported. Researchers have been using their network of remote cameras to help firefighters monitor fires since the deadly Cedar Fire in October 2003.

Fire officials said Friday they expected to completely contain the Horse Fire by Sunday evening. People ordered to flee the fire were allowed to return home Thursday.

The blaze consumed more than 25 square miles of brush since it started last Sunday. Firefighters have contained 50 percent of the fire and cooler temperatures have slowed it to a crawl. Crews expect to completely surround the burn area with containment lines by 6 p.m. Sunday, according to California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Roxanne Provaznik.

Fire officials said strike teams are being released and engines deployed to protect the mountain towns of Lake Morena and Pine Valley. However, there was concern about lightning from thunderstorms potentially sparking new fires in the region.

About 1,839 firefighters from several states are working the fire, which has cost more than $5.1 million to fight so far, officials said. Nineteen firefighters have been injured on the firelines.

Fire officials believe the fire started when a campfire set by illegal immigrants got out of control.

Elsewhere in San Diego, firefighters reached 80 percent containment on a 300-acre wildfire at Camp Pendleton.

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