Update: After searching the premises, authoroities have concluded the report of gunfire was unfounded.

January 26, 2016 (San Diego)--An active shooter is reported at Balboa Naval Hospital in Balboa Park.  KNSD TV indicates there have been reports of three shots fired. Avoid this area.  There is a heavy law enforcement presence including U.S. marshals and a S.W.A.T. team in the area. The public is advised to avoid the area.

Balboa Naval Hospital posted on its Facebook page:

**!ATTENTION!** An active shooter has just been been reported in building #26 at Naval Medical Center San Diego. All occupants are advised to run, hide or fight. All non-emergency response personnel are asked to stay away from the compound, located at 34800 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92134

East County News Service

January 9, 2016 (San Diego)—San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Ernie Dronenburg wishes to advise all property owners whose property was damaged or destroyed during the recent flooding that property tax relief is available. This tax relief program requires the reassessment of the property to reflect its damaged condition.

The reduced value will remain in effect until such time as the property is rebuilt or repaired. More importantly, after the property is rebuilt or repaired, the owners can retain their previous taxable value if the property is rebuilt in a like or similar manner. This means that the property tax assessment will not increase beyond what it was prior to the flooding.

East County News Service

Jaunary 7, 2016 (Jamul) --Honey Springs Road will be shut down all night due to power lines downed by vehicle that struck a power pole this evening, while awaiting SDG&E repairs, the CHP website indicates. A SIG Alert has been issued.

Highway 94 had substantial flooding this afternoon, reaching 30 feet wide in places and up to two feet deep, by some estimates..

Ronnie Durfee sent in video including this still shot of the dip between Rancho Jamul and Melody Lane.

Source: County News Service

January 7, 2016 (Julian) -- Julian residents and visitors now have around-the-clock access to paramedic engine service, thanks to an agreement reached among the region’s lead rural fire agencies and Julian fire officials.

January 6, 2015 3:23 p.m. (San Diego County) -- The National Weather Service has issued a tornado alert for North Central San Diego County.. We quote:

By Miriam Raftery

January 5, 2016 (City Heights) – Floodwaters from tonight’s deluge have left four apartments underwater, also submerging vehicles at 48^th and El Cajon Blvd. in City Heights.

Resident Jonathan Goetz says that “at least six feet of water”  have inundated downstairs units. “Dude, my car is underwater!” he posted on his Facebook page. 

His photos document the drama in real life as a woman rescues her dog, Cha-Cha, cradling her pet in her arms. Another man searched frantically for his missing chihuahua  Nacho, hip-high in the swiftly rising floodwaters. Goetz reports that Nacho was found dead in a bedroom.

November 21, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--A new report from the U.S. Fire Administration highlights factors that led to the deaths of 118 college students in 85 fatal fires from 2000 through 2015, The report found many of these tragedies were preventable. Key findings include:

East County News Service

Photo: Lake Morena fire, by Claudia Millerbragg

November 9, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – A new study published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society  predicts that the number of extreme fire risk days in California will rise from 10 a year to 60 by the year 2100—a six-fold increase.  The study was conducted by  the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Utah State University scientists.

The scientists found that climate change is already underway and responsible for extreme fire conditions starting in the 1990s, which go beyond normal fluctuations in climate conditions. But there are things that can be done. Besides reducing greenhouse emissions to potentially slow or reverse climate change, investing in more brush clearing and firefighting capacity is critical.

Source: CAL FIRE

November 9, 2015 (San Diego)--Members of CAL FIRE Firefighters, along with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, will celebrate their 61-year partnership and kick off the fire fighters' annual Fill the Boot fundraising campaign to benefit children and adults affected by muscle disease throughout the San Diego area.

More than 300 members of CAL FIRE will fan out across San Diego County with boots in hand for this year’s drive during the week of November 9 through 13^th at intersections throughout the San Diego region.

County News Service

Photo: Fire devastation in Lake County.

October 21, 2015 (San Diego)--When fierce wildfires devastated parts of Northern California and the state of Washington in recent months, five San Diego County employees deployed to assist with emergency operations in a couple of the hardest hit areas.

East County News Service

Photo: Two Jacumba CAL FIRE firefighters stand ready to respond in a new paramedic engine at the Jacumba fire station.

October 14, 2015 (San Diego)--San Diego County Fire and CAL FIRE are making a major upgrade to fire and emergency medical services at the County’s Jacumba fire station with the launch this week of round-the-clock paramedic service. It’s the first time ever the service has been offered from the station, located south of Interstate 8 near the Mexican border.

The upgrade is part of an overall effort to increase paramedic capabilities throughout the San Diego County Fire Authority’s service area.  A new paramedic engine at Jacumba is the seventh that County Fire has added over the past few years.  Other new, County Fire-funded paramedic engines now operate out of the Otay, Jamul, Lake Morena, Pine Valley, Descanso and Intermountain stations.

East County Alerts

October 11, 2015 (San Diego)--The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a heat advisory for San Diego County inland coastal and western valley areas from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday (today).

Temperatures are expected to range from 90 to 95 degrees for inland coastal areas and 95 to 99 in western valley areas.

The County issued an alert at 10:45 a.m. today. The County continues to operate the Cool Zones program and has designated buildings as cooling centers.

East County News Service

October 8, 2015 (Lakeside)—A dedication ceremony for the newly completed Cedar Fire Historic Monument will be held on October 24 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Lakeside Fire Protection Office and Fire Station 2, 12216 Lakeside Avenue in Lakeside.

The monument includes a pocket park and honors first responders , those lost in the fire, as well as the strength and resilience of survivors.  Other elements are a map of the Cedar Fire, fire resistant plants and a symbolic red flag pole.  The monument has been designed as a place to inspire people to reflect, reconnect, and remember Lakeside’s struggle and rebirth after the Cedar Fire.