CAL FIRE RESPONDS TO SEVERAL SMALL FIRES, ALL DOUSED QUICKLY

June 3, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)4 p.m. – Lightning started several small fires this afternoon in San Diego's eastern region, including multiple blazes in the Deer Springs area, all extinguished at less than an acre apiece. “A couple of them actually hit power lines,” said Captain Nick Schuler of CAL-FIRE. Another lightning-sparked fire also burned approximately one acre in the 2000 block of Willow Glen Road in Fallbrook. In addition, the cause of a small fire in Ramona this afternoon remains under investigation.

Smoke also billowed up over portions of East County from a controlled burn east of Boulevard. “The burn will continue tomorrow,” said Schuler, who sent a photo of the Fallbrook fire shown here.

CAL-FIRE transitioned to peak staffing on June 1st, with 26 engines each staffed by four-man crews. In addition, our region has two air tankers, a Sheriff's helicopter and one air attack vehicle pre-stationed here for the summer months. Despite steep state budget cuts, fire equipment for our region remains the same as last year, with manpower per engine actually increased in preparation for hot, dry weather conditions.

East County Magazine did not activate our wildfire alert system because the blazes were rapidly contained and posed no threat to structures, roads or residents.