East County News Service

Information and photo courtesy of County News Service

February 8, 2023 (Campo) -- A deer mouse collected from an open nature area in Campo during routine monitoring has tested positive for the potentially deadly hantavirus.

This is the first case confirmed this year in San Diego County. Finding hantavirus in wild rodents is not uncommon in San Diego County, last year there were 11 cases locally.

Update 10 p.m.  The fire is now 4,234 acres and 5% contained.  The fire continues to threaten the communities of Barrett, Potrero, and Tecate.  Multiple agencies are on scnee fighting fire and protecting structures through the night.

Update 9 p.m.:  An ECM reporter on scene tonight reports "explosive" fire behavior.  A second ECM reporter on scene witnessed electrical equipment explode. The fire is burning near State Routes 188 and 94, heading north. Scanner traffic indicates several homes burned and two civilians suffered burn injuries; a firefighter had a minor heat-related injury.  If you are in the path of this fire, do not wait -- get out now.  The Border Patrol is assisting the Sheriff Dept. with evacuations.

Update 8 p.m. : All schools in the Mountain Empire School District will be closed tomorrow due to the fire.  

SDG&E reports fire damaged electrical equipment, causing an outage for 309 homes in Dulzura, Potrero and Campo. Restoration is expected by noon tomorrow.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left, by Nadin Abbott, view from Barrett Junction east toward Potrero

August 31, 2022 (San Diego’s East County)—The #BorderFire32 has swelled to 1,600 acres since starting this afternoon near State Route 94 and Barrett Lake Road near Dulzura. 

The fire is burning eastward, with zero containment, and has crossed State Route 94 on the eastern portion of the fire.  Structures are threatened, at least one has burned, and more than 400 homes have been ordered to evacuate tonight  as the fire burns at a critical speed. Mandatory evacuation areas include much of Potrero, Barrett Junction, Dulzura and Tecate.

State Route 94 is closed all the way from Otay Lakes Rd. in Dulzura to Forrest Gate Rd. in Campo.  The Tecate border crossing is also shut down.

East County News Service

May 16. 2022 (Campo) – A U.S. Border Patrol agent died Friday, May 13 of injuries sustained in a single-vehicle crash near Campo. The agent, a 40-year-old man assigned to the El Cajon station in the San Diego sector, was the sole occupant of the USBP vehicle.

By SJ Miller

Photo:  Matt Lieurance with rescue Diamond.  Photo courtesy Farm Animal Refuge

March 24, 2022 (Campo) — When Jordan Russo and Matt Lieurance met working at Chili’s 14 years ago, they had no idea they would eventually become close friends, roommates, and co-founders of an animal sanctuary in Campo.

Test results show the drinking water supply is safe from nitrate contamination

East County News Service

February 18, 2022 (Campo) -- The County of San Diego, Department of Environmental Health and Quality, is advising the public that a Drinking Water Warning has been lifted for Cameron Corners Water System located at 31484 Highway 94, Campo, CA 91906. The water system supplies water to 3 service connections, including a convenience store, restaurant, and office retail space.  Following system repairs, water sample results reported February 17, 2022, showed that nitrate levels are non-detect in the drinking water supply.  

Do not drink tap water in the affected area

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Cameron Corners, via Google Earth

January 26, 2022 (Campo) -- The County of San Diego's Department of Environmental Health and Quality today advised the public that a Drinking Water Warning has been issued effective immediately for Cameron Corners Water System at 31484 Highway 94, Campo, CA 91906. The water system supplies water to a convenience store, restaurant, and office retail space.  

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

Photo: Terra-Gen’s planned Campo Wind turbines would be twice as tall as those shown at the existing Kumeyaay Wind site in Campo.

January 3, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Terra-Gen, the company slated to build a massive wind project on the Campo reservation, has been fined over a half million dollars following an investigation that accused the company of submitting “false or misleading information to the California System Operator (CAISO)” regarding the capabilities and output of a wind power facility owned by Terra-Gen’s subsidiary Cameron Ridge, LLC. 

By Miriam Raftery

“We have really nothing to give our youth, nothing to pass down. All we have are false promises. These windmills are supposed to bring us some glimmer of hope, but all they’ve brought us are despair.” –Tribal elder Denis Largo

August 7, 2021 (Campo) – U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Backcountry Against Dumps, a local citizens’ group, against the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior. The lawsuit sought to challenge the agencies’ approval of Terra Gen’s Campo Wind project on the Campo Indian reservation.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

March 20, 2021 (Campo) -- San Diego County supervisors voted Wednesday to buy the 2,151-acre, historic Star Ranch area in Campo, its largest acquisition of sensitive habitat, wetlands, potential passive park land and hiking trails in a decade.

County officials said the land will provide a permanent home for sensitive species and conserve important habitat including 200 acres of wetlands, and it could eventually provide a large park and connections for hikers to nearby trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail.

By Miriam Raftery

December 5, 2020 (Campo) – The Federal Aviation Administration has reversed its earlier approval of the controversial Campo Wind project and related Boulder Brush Facilities.The project would erect 60 wind turbines, each 586 feet tall, on tribal land close to tribal and non-tribal homes in rural East County. (image, left)

In its remand letter dated Dec. 2, the FAA admitted to errors in its aeronautical study proceess.

The action comes in response to a petition for review raised by the nonprofit Backcountry Against Dumps along with Boulevard residents Ed and Donna Tisdale, whose property shares a half-mile border with the project site on the Campo Indian reservation.

East County News Service

October 6, 2020 (Campo) -- Join the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association in its annual Pumpkin Express Halloween Celebration.  Come ride decorated vintage railcars through the San Diego county mountains as fall descends upon Campo, CA.  Walk through a themed Display Building complete with Halloween scenes, a pumpkin patch, and our creepy cast of ghosts and ghouls.

Santa Ana winds forecast tomorrow as firefighters race to contain firestorm

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Fire encroaching on Rock Canyon winery yesterday

Update 6:25 p.m. Cal Fire reports the fire has grown significantly, charring17,345 acres but is now 3% contained.

Update 3:45 p.m.  New mandatory evacuations have been given for Corte Madera south of Pine Valley.

September 7, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – Dawn brought relief for many East County residents who evacuated or sheltered in place during the night, while firefighters limited the Valley Fire’s spread. View live-mapping of the fire perimeter at this link.

But today also brings new evacuations at Corral Canyon and Bobcat Meadows in Cleveland National Forest due to an immediate threat.  As a precaution, all campgrounds in the federal forest will be closed for one week.

Ken, a homeless man camped at the Boulder Creek Canyon who has lived for years at campgrounds in the federal forest, emailed ECM that he was given just two hours to get out this Labor Day holiday.  "I told the person I had been drinking and WOULD NOT drive drunk nor leave my home," he said.  "I said I will go when I am sober or they can arrest me before then...Apparently there is NO evacuation area to the EAST. I have to go out in the sun or go to Steele Canyon."

“Fire growth is impacting the Lawson Valley and Carveacres areas. There is an immediate threat to Loveland Reservoir and the surrounding water shed,” Cleveland National Forest reports today.  As of this morning, the blaze has consumed 10,258 acres, 408 more than yesterday.

Though the fire remains just 1% contained, there is some good news.

“Because of the proactive efforts of Cal Fire, today we will be exercising the agreement we have with the Navy Third Fleet and the First Marine Expeditionary Force to utilize military aircraft on the fire,” Cal Fire Captain and Public Information Officer Kendal Bortisser reports.

The bad news is that the National Weather Service predicts Santa Ana winds will sweep into our region tomorrow through Thursday, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour, along with continuing hot, dry conditions though slightly cooler than the record-shattering temperatures this weekend that hit 114 degrees in some of the fire-affected areas.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: New power poles in Pine Valley are made of steel, not wood, for fire safety, as part of the upgrades that SDG&E has been installing across inland San Diego County.

Updated August 23, 2020 9:40 a.m. with responses from SDG&E.

August 22, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – Amid a record-breaking heat wave with monsoonal thunderstorms, flash floods and lightning-sparked fires forecast as potential added hazards, SDG&E has announced plans to shut off power for hours during the heat of the day on Sunday and Monday across much of San Diego County.  

The outages are to upgrade wood poles to steel, among other equipment upgrades or maintenance planned.

The NWS has warned that the intense heat  this week can be life-threatening for those without air conditioning, yet the power outage will leave any residents who lack generators without access to safe, cool spaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic when many public, air-conditioned places are shut down.

Rural residents with electric well pumps will also be left without water for people or livestock to drink, as well as for fighting fires, as many rural residents equipped with tanks and hoses have done in past brush fires, unless they have invested in generators. Downed communications including internet and in some areas, phone service also leave residents unable to receive emergency alerts despite a high potential for emergencies during the extreme weather conditions.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  a California mouse

July 2, 2020 (Campo) - Four wild mice collected in routine monitoring in open space in the Campo area have tested positive for hantavirus.

County officials are reminding people they should never sweep or vacuum up after rodents if they find them in living spaces like homes, garages, sheds and cabins, but instead use “wet-cleaning” methods.

Decision bypasses Campo’s tribal regulations and land use planning protections: Legal challenges are in the works

By Donna Tisdale, President of Backcountry Against Dumps

April 9, 2020 (Campo and Boulevard, California)-- Against strong opposition, including many tribal members, the Department of Interior just approved the Record of Decision (ROD) for Terra-Gen’s controversial Campo Wind project with 60-586 ft tall 4.2 megawatt (MW) turbines on Campo Tribal lands in rural San Diego County.

These turbines are taller than the tallest skyscraper in San Diego and twice as powerful as existing Kumeyaay Wind and Tule Wind turbines that already generate nuisance level adverse impacts for neighbors! To add insult to injury, the ROD was signed by the Assistant Secretary, which means we lose the right to appeal that approval.

Legal challenges are in the works.

Campo Wind is opposed by neighbors as well as by a qualified number of voting Campo Tribal members, but Campo leaders have ignored two valid tribal petitions: 1) to terminate Campo Wind ; 2) to remove their leadership for failing to hold the vote to terminate[1]. Turbines are planned far too close to homes and offices and can restrict the number and placement of new homes for current and future residents.

Campo’s elections are set for April 17^th, with strong hope that leaders will be voted in who will act to better protect their people and resources, and to stop Campo Wind dead in its tracks.