A brush fire sparked and quickly grew to 60 acres before firefighters halted further spread near the U.S.—Mexico border east of Otay Mesa Friday afternoon, Cal Fire San Diego said.
No injuries resulted from the fire but crews will remain at the scene for mop up and patrol, Cal Fire posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The fire was burning just before noon in light, flashy fuels, Cal Fire said, which means it had the potential to grow quickly. The blaze started in the Otay Open Space Preserve and was heading toward the border, Cal Fire said. No structures were threatened.
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Firefighters were attacking a fire line in a wide open space from the ground and air, footage from SkyRanger 7 showed. Flames surrounded scorched land, which was marked by pink lines of fire retardant drops from firefighting helicopters. Several hot spots were sending their own plumes of smoke into the air.
Santa Ana winds weakened Friday but were still creating ripe conditions for wildfires when combined with humidity less than 10% in the inland areas. Winds were expected in the 15-30 mph range with some gusts up to 40 mph. Fire weather was expected to be more significant on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
"Local critical conditions are likely for a few hours below the San Gorgonio Pass, and over parts of the San Diego County Mountains" over the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
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