A brush fire erupted alongside a stretch of train tracks in Oceanside and moved up an adjacent slope toward some hilltop homes Wednesday, prompting evacuations, train delays and road closures but causing no structural damage or injuries.
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The blaze broke out about 9:30 a.m. off the 2800 block of Industry Street, near Loma Alta Creek and west of El Camino Real, according to police.
Authorities evacuated six houses on Eldean Lane and Skylark Drive as the flames spread uphill through thick vegetation, Oceanside Fire Department Chief Rick Robinson said. A temporary shelter for the displaced people was established at Lincoln Middle School.
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Police closed sections of Dunstan Street and Skylark Drive, and North County Transit District officials suspended rail service in the area while firefighters fought the fire on the ground and aboard several water-dropping helicopters.
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As of 11:30 a.m., firefighters had halted the spread of the roughly two-acre blaze. Authorities then began reopening the affected traffic lanes and giving the evacuated residents the go-ahead to return to their homes.
The exact cause of the fire remained unclear in the late afternoon. Investigators did conclude that it was "of human origin," according to a statement from the Oceanside Fire Department.
