Spring Valley fire

SAGE FIRE THREATENS HOMES IN JAMUL/SPRING VALLEY AREA

Update  4:53 p.m.  from the Sheriff:  An evacuation order related to the #SageFire in Jamul has been lifted. The fire started in the 3300 block of Lorrel Place just before 2:00 p.m. @CALFIRESANDIEGO personnel are making progress with the fire. @SDSheriff ASTREA/helicopter also made water drops. SR-94 between Vista Sage and Rancho Miguel Roads will be closed for a few more hours and will reopen with one lane only through the night as crews mop up at the scene. Drive carefully and be mindful of first responders and fire equipment in the area.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, right, by Jeff Harrison

November 23, 2023 (Jamul) --  Mandatory evacuations have been ordered by CalFire due to the #SageFire. which started this afternoon near Highway 94 and Vista Sage in the Jamul/Spring Valley area has burned 30-35 acres and is spreading at a critical rate of speed, fueled by Santa Ana winds.  Highway 94 is being shut down between Steele Canyon and Lyons Valley Road.

Structures are threatened and vehicles are being escorted out to evacuate.  If you are evacuatiing from Jamul, use Otay Lake Rd., Proctor Valley ro Japatul Valley Rd.


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FIRE IN SPRING VALLEY NEAR STEELE CANYON

East County Wildfire and Emergency Alerts

Update: The fire burned approximately 10 acres, including an abandoned home on McGinty Peak.

November 16, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- Cal Fire has responded to the #Willow9Fire, a vegetation blaze that has burned 4-5 acres southeast of Steele Canyon Road and WIllow Glen Road in Spring Valley. 

The fire is in the vicinity of Steele Canyon High and Jamacha Elementary Schools. It began around 7:25 p.m.

It is burning at a moderate rate of spread. Humidity is very low and peak gusts are around 20 miles per hour.

There appears to be a structure threat. Incident commander has requested a Type 1 structure strike team and additional engines. A night-flying helicopter is also requested.

Kathleen Hedberg provided this image of McGinty Peak.


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BODY FOUND IN BURNED SPRING VALLEY MOBILEHOME

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Cc via Bing

July 18, 2021 (Spring Valley) – A body has been found inside a mobile home at the Sweetwater Lodge Motor Home Park, 10707 Jamacha Blvd., unit 80 in Spring Valley. A 14-year-old escaped a fire shortly before midnight last night, but told Sheriff’s deputies that his grandmother did not make it out.

According to 619 News Media, the juvenile was screaming for help and neighbors tried to enter the residence by kicking a door and pulling windows open before firefighters from San Miguel Fire and Rescue arrived, but were unable to do so due to smoke and flames. View video.


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FIREFIGHTERS CONTAIN AUTO WRECKING YARD FIRE

By Miriam Raftery

(Photo courtesy of San Miguel Fire District) 

April 3, 2021 (Spring Valley ) --  Crews from San Miguel Fire Department, Heartland Fire and San Diego Fire & Rescue successfully controlled a fast moving commercial fire on Jamacha Road in Spring Valley on Thursday.

According to Heartland Fire in a post on Instragram, Initial arriving units encountered heavy fire and smoke from behind an auto wrecking and recycling facility. The smoke column was pushed by a strong west wind which produced an immediate threat to exposures including businesses and an apartment complex.


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FIRE DESTROYS SPRING VALLEY HOME AFTER LIKELY LIGHTNING STRIKE

By Miriam Raftery
 
Photo: San Miguel Fire on Instagram
 
March 28, 2020 (Spring Valley) – A Spring Valley couple has been treated for smoke inhalation after escaping their Spring Valley home during a fire around 3:45 a.m. on Friday. The couple reported hearing a loud noise believed to be a lightning strike, followed by smelling smoke. 

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FIRE AT SPRING VALLEY HOMELESS CAMP THREATENED CONDOS; HAZMAT CONSULTED AND FIRE CREWS DECONTAMINATED DUE TO HUMAN WASTE

 

East County News Service

 

September 24, 2017 (Spring Valley) – This morning around 1:30 a.m., San Miguel Fire District Engine 16 and Brush 14, along with San Diego and Bonita Fire, responded to a vegetation/trash fire at a homeless encampment near Spring Canyon Drive in Spring Valley.


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FIREFIGHTER INJURED, HOMES DAMAGED BY RECYCLING CENTER FIRE

 

East County News Service

Photo: Screenshot, ECM news partner 10 News

August 3, 2016 (Spring Valley) — A firefighter was injured by a falling stack of cardboard while battling a blaze at a recycling center Tuesday morning in the 3800 block of Bancroft Drive in Spring Valley.


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2-ACRE FIRE BURNED SHED, THREATENED HOMES IN SPRING VALLEY

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

May 1, 2014 (Spring Valley) – A brush fire along State Route 125 near Jamacha Boulevard in Spring Valley led to evacuations of several home along Elkelton Boulevard near Sweetwater Reservoir this afternoon. 

The blaze charred about two acres and scorched a shed before firefighters brought it under control with help from a water-dropping helicopter. Animal Control was called to assist with pigs behind one of the homes, a witness stated.


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CHRISTMAS DAY FIRE DAMAGES SPRING VALLEY HOME

 

December 25, 2013 (Spring Valley ) – In the early hours of Christmas morning at 12:32 a.m., Lemon Grove Sheriff Deputies responded to a radio call to help San Miguel Fire Department at a brush fire reported near homes on South Granada Avenue in Spring Valley.  Upon arrival, deputies and firefighters found a residence on fire at the rear of the house.

Fortunately, residents had safely evacuated.  Firefighters doused the blaze and asked Sheriff’’s Bomb-Arson unit to investigate. The fire’s cause was determined to be accidental.


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SPRING VALLEY MAN BURNED RUNNING THROUGH FLAMES TO ESCAPE MOBILEHOME FIRE

March 12, 2013 (Spring Valley)--San Miguel Fire District Firefighters responded to a fully engulfed mobile home fire tonight at Avalon Estates in the 1200 block of Grand Avenue, Spring Valley.

Two of the family’s four residents were home when the fire broke out. One resident, a female broke a bedroom window and escaped the flames, said Leonard Villareal, public information officer at San Miguel Fire Department. The other person home, a young man suffered severe to moderate burns over an estimated 25-percent of his body as he ran through the flames to escape from the front door. He was given stabilizing care on the scene and then rushed to the UCSD Burn Center.


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BODY FOUND IN SPRING VALLEY APARTMENT FIRE; FOUL PLAY RULED OUT


Sheriff and Hazmat team called to scene

By Miriam Raftery

 

Update October 19, 2011: The San Diego Medical Examiner reports the body was a 65-year old man who died of smoke inhalation.  His identity has not yet been released.

 


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FIRE IN SPRING VALLEY; ANOTHER FIRE IN SAN DIEGO DOUSED

September 9, 2011 (Spring Valley) 5:25 p.m. – A half-acre fire is burning in Spring Valley. According to Heartland dispatch, the fire began in the 8700 block of Central Way. Forward spread has been stopped. 

 

Another fire torched a quarter-acre along I-15 at Adams Avenue but was swiftly put out by San Diego Fire and Rescue a short time ago.



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BRUSH FIRE IN SPRING VALLEY; WILDLAND FIRE RESPONSE REQUESTED


September 8, 2011 (Spring Valley) – 2:50 p.m. – A residential structure fire that started in a split level home at Grand and Eucalyptus has spread into adjacent brush, Heartland Fire Dispatch has just confirmed. Wildland fire air support is en route. Mutual aide firefighting units from Santee and La Mesa have also been called to the scene.


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TWO BRUSH FIRES IN SPRING VALLEY; ONE CAUSED BY NATURE, ONE DUE TO NEGLECT

 

September 6, 2011 (Spring Valley)—Two fires briefly threatened homes this evening in Spring Valley. A careless cigarette has been blamed for one blaze, while the other appears to be natural in cause, according to Leonard Villareal, spokesman for the San Miguel Fire District.

 


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MAN INJURED IN SPRING VALLEY APARTMENT FIRE AS FIREFIGHTERS SAVE OTHER UNITS

 

December 20, 2010 (Spring Valley)- -San Miguel firefighters used a 100-foot ladder truck to access a third story roof, cutting ventilation holes to control a raging condominium fire that threatened multiple units in the 3000 block of Charwood Drive in Spring Valley just before 4 a.m.

 

Five people were inside the unit when the fire began. One occupant told investigators he was trying to light the fireplace when the lighter flame ignited and there was was a swift explosion, as a ball of flame and embers shot out onto the area rug.


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FIRE DISPLACES RESIDENTS IN SPRING VALLEY

 

November 29, 2010 (Spring Valley) – A mother with two children smelled smoke and discovered her bed on fire this morning. Fortunately, the family as well as two guests all evacuated safely from the duplex apartment, located in the 3100 block of Bernis Court in Spring Valley.


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JAMACHA FIRE DOUSED; HUNDREDS EVACUATED EARLIER

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Dennis Richardson

September 18, 2010 (Spring Valley) 8 p.m. – A team of approximately 90 firefighters saved dozens of homes that were threatened by a fast-moving brush fire burning in flashy fuels in Spring Valley this afternoon. One home suffered an estimated $60,000 in damage after an ember blew onto a tinder-dry wood shake roof.

 

About 150 people were evacuated from the Lamplighter Village mobilehome park and additional evacuations were ordered for residents of the Carriage Hills neighborhood, where flames burned to within 30 yards of some homes.


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JAMACHA FIRE NOW 50 ACRES, 1 STRUCTURE DAMAGED

 

Update 3:25 p.m.  Aircraft have been released and firefighters remain on hand mopping up hotspots at the scene of the fire, which is now contained.

September 18, 2010 (Spring Valley) 2:10 p.m. - The Jamacha Fire is now 50 acres and forward spread is halted, Chief August Ghio of San Miguel Fire confirms.  The fire is under joing command of Cal-Fire, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and San Miguel Fire.

 

Anxious residents poured into the streets to watch the fire at the Lamplighter Village mobile home park, where flames encroached just behind the complex. Smoke is visible from throughout East County and an evacuation center has been set up at Skyline Church.


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BRUSH FIRE SPARKS EVACUATIONS IN SPRING VALLEY

September 18, 2010 (Spring Valley)  12:42 p.m. -- Homes on Via de la Terra are being evacuated due to a brush fire.  Heavy winds are blowing flames eastward, ECM has learned.  The fire is within 100 feet of structures in the area of Jamacha Blvd. and Lamplighter Village.  Watch for updates soon.

 

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BRUSH FIRE HALTED IN SPRING VALLEY

 

September 12, 2010 (Spring Valley) – A brush fire reported around noon today charred approximately three acres at the junction of Highway 94 and Highway 125, Heartland Fire confirms.


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SMALL FIRE IN SPRING VALLEY

August 21, 2010 (Spring Valley) - A small fire on Anlee Street is burning along the backside of several homes in the Spring Valley area; firefighters are on scene attacking the blaze, Incident Page Network reports. Watch for details.


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ARSON SUSPECTED IN SPRING VALLEY FIRE

 

 

July 25, 2010 (Spring Valley) -- Boots on the ground and helicopters in the air worked together to keep a fast-moving brush fire at nine acres in the Dictionary Hill area. While 25 homes on the north side of Grand Avenue were ordered evacuated, no structures were damaged and no injuries reported. Cause of the fire is under investigation; however San Miguel Fire officials say it is “suspicious” in nature.


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BRUSH FIRE IN SPRING VALLEY: EVACUATIONS IN PROGRESS

 

July 25, 2010 (Spring Valley) 3:35 p.m. – A fast-moving brush fire is burning on Dictionary Hill, where homes are being evacuated on Grand Avenue. Two helicopters and a type-3 strike team have been requested; Heartland Fire crews are now at the scene.
 


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SMOKE ALARM ALERTS FAMILY WITH 8 CHILDREN OF FIRE AT SPRING VALLEY HOME

 

BROTHERS SAVE LITTLE SISTER, 4

Updated July 18, 2010
July 17, 2010 (Spring Valley) -- 100 degree heat in Spring Valley today did not slow the attack of San Miguel firefighters on a house fire in the 8600 block of Sandy Bev Lane.  A mother and seven of her eight children were home when the blaze was reported. The mother told investigators she was in the kitchen preparing a meal when she heard the smoke alarm sound. She went down a hallway to investigate and found one of the children’s bedrooms on fire.

Seven family members evacuated safely, but once outside realized that a four-year-old child was missing.  The girls brothers, 14 and 18, ran back inside and found her hiding in her bedroom closet and rescued her.


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PRESCHOOL EVACUATED DUE TO BRUSH FIRE: ARSON SUSPECTED

 

June 17, 2010 (Spring Valley) – The KinderCare preschool was evacuated today due to a brush fire that began shortly before 1 p.m. Firefighters From San Miguel Fire quickly got the blaze under control, which began near 10130 Rothgard Road in Spring Valley. Investigators say the fire was arson.

 

The fire, which also threatened several structures around a canyon area, was stopped as it moved onto the playground area. On another flank, the fire was stopped as it moved into a defensible space buffer created just yesterday by a resident.


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WEED WHACKER CAUSED SPRING VALLEY FIRE, PLACING 50 HOMES IN JEOPARDY

Fire official warns against use of metal blades to cut brush

June 9, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Clearing brush with a metal-bladed weed whacker set off sparks which caused today’s four-acre blaze on Dictionary Hill in Spring Valley, said Leonard Villareal, spokesman for the San Miguel Fire District.

 

“Metal blades are not a good idea for cutting weeds,” he said, adding that plastic strips or blades are safer. Ironically, clearing brush, while important to create defensible space, can actually cause a fire if caution is not taken.  Villareal also warned against spilling flammable gasoline while refilling gas-powered weed cutters.


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BRUSH FIRE IN SPRING VALLEY

 

June 9, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – A four-acre brush fire on Dictionary Hill in Spring Valley threatened homes in the 1400 block of Coronado.  The fire caused some damage to decks and external walls, Chief August Ghio of San Miguel Fire has confirmed.


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APARTMENT FIRE DESTROYS UNIT IN SPRING VALLEY


Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

 

May 10, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Fire gutted an apartment unit at 3613 S. Bonita in Spring Valley this evening, though a swift response by multiple fire agencies saved adjoining units.  Anxious residents, some in pajamas and one in a wheelchair, gathered outside as firefighters conducted a search of the building. No one was found inside and no injuries were reported.

“When I came home and opened the door, there was smoke,” said one occupant of the unit, who asked that his name not be published. “I broke open a fire extinguisher and saw a fire in a trashcan, then I called 911.” Four residents in his unit and a dog were displaced by the fire, he said.


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FIRE ENGULFS SPRING VALLEY HOME

 

February 24, 2010 (Spring Valley)  Firefighters are on the scene of a two-alarm blaze that has fully engulfed a residence at 8814 Bancroft in Spring Valley.  The blaze, south of 94,  has sent up a plume of black smoke visible for many miles.  The photo at left was taken from Mt. Helix.


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2 INJURED, 11 DISPLACED BY SPRING VALLEY FIRE

February 15, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Two men were injured in an apartment fire yesterday morning in the 9200 block of Kenwood Drive in Spring Valley. One injured his leg after jumping from a second story balcony; the other suffered smoke inhalation. Both were taken to a hospital.


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