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Story and Photos by Josh Stotler
July 9, 2023 (Potrero) -- At 2:49 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to 25850 Potrero Park Dr. for reports of a vegetation fire. Arriving units radioed that the fire was 3-5 acres in heavy fuel with a potential to spread to 50-100 acres.
Additional resources were requested, bringing in more air support and ground crews to the scene. Structures were threatened and evacuation warnings were issued for grids 0852 and 0853, the Potrero valley. Due to the unpredictable nature of the fire, the warnings were quickly upgraded to evacuation orders for those two grids.
Aggressive air support and a coordinated ground attack quickly stopped the forward progress of the fire around 4:43 p.m. and the air assets were released, leaving the remaining flames and backfire operations to ground crews.
Crews from Cal Fire, San Diego County Fire, BLM, United States Forrest Service, and the San Diego Sheriff’s Dept. as well as CDC inmate fire crews worked quickly to keep this fire to only 63 acres, with no structures lost.
Crews will remain on scene through the night to advance containment and douse hot spots.
Parts of Potrero Valley Road remain closed to through traffic.
Josh Stotler is a freelance Photojournalist with over 20 years of fire service experience.
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