CLOVERDALE FIRE WAS NOT ARSON, AUTHORITIES DETERMINE

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo from San Diego Fire Dept.: Metro Arson Strike Team investigates fire scene.

August 14, 2018 (San Pasqual Valley) – The Metro Arson Strike team has reversed an earlier announcement and now believes yesterday's Cloverdale Fire in the San Pasqual Valley was not caused by arson, but instead by a rimless tire that threw off sparks, causing multilple ignition points, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

This is the third fire to occur in the San Pasqual area in the past couple of weeks, though authorities have not yet announced causes of the earlier San Pasqual and Rangeland fires, which burned 240 and 250 acres respectively.

The Cloverdale Fire, under unified command of Cal Fire and San Diego Fire Department, started mid-afternoon and quickly scorched 100 acres. Today it is 65% contained and evacuations have been lifted.

The blaze caused closure of State Route 78 and evacuation of homes, also forcing closure of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was treated at the scene.

Road closures remain in effect tonight on State Route 78 from San Pasqual Road to Bandy Canyon Road, and on San Pasqual Road from State Route 78 and Old Mlkly Way.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

Comments

Good to know

At least we have the actual cause now, instead of the earlier assumption it was arson coming from original sources.

Could be...

Clinically diagnosed as a pyromaniac. Hope this person gets caught before the situation becomes even more serious and out of control.