Fire Extinguished at SDG&E Plant

A fire at the SDG&E Base Load Plant in Escondido was extinguished Thursday afternoon after residents within a one-mile radius were advised to stay out of the area for more than 24 hours.

Escondido Police and Fire Dispatch responded to reports of a large fire and explosion at 12.09 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Information received from SDG&E was that a generator transformer caught fire and was contained in a 30 X 30 area on the plant grounds,” said Lt. Craig Carter.

There were no reports of injuries or immediate danger to surrounding residents. However, Escondido Police and Fire Dispatch sent reverse 911 calls to nearby residents to stay out of the area. Those 911 calls were repeated Thursday morning as crews waited for the mineral oil to burn off.

Fire crews from Camp Pendleton Hazardous Material Unit, Marine Corp Air Station Crash Fire Rescue, San Diego Hazardous Material Incident Response Team and the Escondido Fire Department tried to extinguish the fire Wednesday evening, to no avail.

“Due to the extreme heat from the burning mineral oil, the crews were not able to suppress the fire,” said Lt. Carter. “Emergency personnel do not have an estimate for how long it will take before this fire is extinguished.”

The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health-Hazards Material Unit was monitoring the air in the immediate area.

Portions of Auto Parkway and Citracado Parkway remained closed for hours.

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