A brush fire erupted along Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad Friday afternoon, sending thick smoke over the area and forced a brief evacuation of businesses in the area.
The fire was reported at about 11:20 a.m. near the intersection of Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real, east of the Crossings at Carlsbad golf course and west of McClellan-Palomar Airport.
Within an hour-and-a-half, The Carlsbad Police Department said the fire was contained though crews remained on scene investigating the cause and putting out hot spots.
No damage or injuries were reported. It was not clear how much land the fire had scorched.
Early in the firefight, the column of smoke was white in color, indicating a low amount of fuel was burning, though the column was leaning to the east, signifying winds were blowing in the area.
The plume of smoke rose above some buildings in the area, which prompted the Carlsbad Police Department to evacuate nearby businesses, though the evacuation was quickly lifted. No residences were ever evacuated.
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Meanwhile, a firefighting helicopter pulled water from a small lake at the Carlsbad golf course and dumping water on the fire. At least a half-dozen engines and trucks were stationed along Palomar Airport Road.
Westbound lanes of Palomar Airport Road were closed to traffic due to the fire. The fire was also causing a slowdown in eastbound lanes.
Despite a cooler weather pattern, several fires sparked across San Diego County this week, including two that forced evacuations in East County.
The Willow Fire north of Lake Jennings sparked Wednesday afternoon and its fast spread prompted officials to evacuate about 20 homes, though the fire luckily never grew more than 55 acres and was contained within five hours.
The previous day, the Dehesa Fire in the canyon of the same name burned about 200 acres near Sycuan Casino and forced residents in nearby homes to evacuate. Flames' forward progress was halted by the evening and was contained the following day.
According to Cal Fire San Diego spokesperson Capt. Issac Sanchez, the three factors that most impact a wildfire are fuel, weather and topography. Together, the trio is known to lead to major wildfire incidents. Such was the formula in the November 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County in Northern California, which scorched 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,793 structures, and resulted in 85 deaths.
To sign up for evacuation alerts amid an emergency or disaster in San Diego County, visit the AlertSanDiego website here.
No other information was available.
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