Firefighters quickly put out a house fire in Ramona early Tuesday, preventing the fire from spreading.
The fire started just before 4 a.m. on State Route 78 near Horizon View Drive.
According to Cal Fire, a woman who lived in the home was able to get out and was seen driving away.
The fire spread to vegetation outside of the home, but firefighters stopped the fire from burning more than a quarter of an acre.
“Luckily we didn’t have wind or things could have been a lot worse,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Randy Scales.
A neighbor told NBC 7 that he and his wife were sleeping when they woke up to the sounds of dogs barking and someone yelling.
"We looked outside and saw a huge wall of fire out our bedroom window, and immediately hopped up, got on the phone, called the fire department," said Justin Vega.
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Vega said his heart was racing when he saw the flames.
"Something that you don't ever want to see in Southern California," he said.
"It's a rural area, access is a bit restricted," explained Vega. "Makes for great mountain views, but when this kind of thing happens, it can be a little bit of a difficulty."
Despite the location, Vega said firefighters arrived within several minutes of his call.
He said a former firefighter who lives up the hill also sprang into action and gave firefighters a layout of the area.
Firefighters are investigating how the fire started.
Homeowners should keep 100 feet of defensible space around their homes to prevent fires from spreading, which includes removing dead plants from your yard, and keeping tree branches at least 10 feet away from chimneys and other trees.
Firefighters also want to people to be careful about accidentally starting a fire, especially with the extreme heat.
