Cocos and Las Pulgas Fires, showing in red the heat detected by a satellite at 4:03 a.m. PDT, May 16, 2014. The heat icons can be as much as a mile in error.
A new fire at Camp Pendleton in southern California grew rapidly after it started at 3:15 p.m. Thursday. A 5:09 a.m. update on Friday from the base said it had burned 8,000 acres and was 5 percent contained. Several areas on the base have been evacuated. Little other information about the fire is available, other than evacuation areas, since the Marines rarely allow reporters on the base when a fire is burning.
A total of 19 military helicopters are providing fire suppression support to firefighters in southern California, including eight Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, seven CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters and four UH-1Y Huey helicopters.
CAL FIRE reports that that as of early Friday morning the Cocos Fire in San Marcos has burned 3,018 acres and is 10 percent contained. See the link in the previous update for a link to a satellite map of the fire.
The weather in southern California is expected to be 10 to 20 degrees cooler than it has been, which should give firefighters a chance to make some headway on the fires.
Since the Cocos Fire started on Wednesday, 76,000 alerts have been sent to residents, via texts, emails and phone calls. The total does not translate to 76,000 people being evacuated because many residents receive the alerts by all three forms of communication.
Map showing the Cocos Fire. The dark red squares represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:27 p.m. PDT, May 15, 2014. The location of the icons can be as much as a mile in error.
The Cocos Fire, formerly known as the Washingtonia Fire, has been very active today, challenging firefighters who are trying to protect structures in remote areas surrounded by southern California chaparral. CAL Fire reports the fire has burned 1,200 acres and is 5 percent contained.
Authorities in San Diego County issued hundreds of new mandatory evacuation orders Thursday afternoon as a wildfire in the San Marcos area grew to 1,200 acres and was spreading east toward Escondido.
Escondido residents in neighborhoods north and west of West Valley Parkway between Via Rancho Parkway and Highway 78 were ordered to leave their homes as two flanks of the Cocos wildfire raged along parched hillsides overlooking the city, officials said.
Home burning in the Cocos Fire, screen capture from NBC7 at 1:54 p.m. PDT, May 15, 2014.
Nearby weather stations measured the temperature at close to 100 degrees early in the afternoon.
Various reports from County and fire officials today say that 12 or 22 military helicopters are available if needed. Some of them have been dropping on the Cocos Fire today.
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(Originally published at 6:05 a.m. PDT, May 15, 2014)
Map of the Cocos, Poinsettia, and Bernardo Fires. The yellow and red icons represent heat detected by a satellite. The darkest red icons show heat that was detected at 3:20 a.m. PDT, May 15, 2014.
The fire in San Marcos, California that was first called Washingtonia and later changed to Cocos, is the only fire in San Diego County that was still showing large amounts of heat when the satellite passed over at 3:20 a.m. PDT Thursday. That does not mean the other fires are out, it could mean firefighters have at least temporarily slowed the spread to the point where they are not creating enough heat to be detected by the satellite hundreds of miles overhead.
Cocos Fire update- 700 acres 0% containment. Confirmed 3 homes destroyed, 1 structure damaged. Fire is still active and moving to the south.
— CAL FIRE SAN DIEGO (@CALFIRESANDIEGO) May 15, 2014
The map of the fire above shows the location of the Poinsettia, Cocos, and Bernardo Fires. The Cocos fire, according to CAL FIRE at 3:41 a.m. Thursday, has burned about 700 acres and three homes. The campus of Cal State San Marcos was evacuated Wednesday, and the City of San Marcos reported that all neighborhoods south of San Marcos Blvd, including Lake San Marcos, also evacuated Wednesday afternoon. By 10 p.m. 600 more evacuation notices were issued for the Elfin Forest, Indian Road, Crestwind Road, Wilgen Drive and De Loma Drive areas, according to county officials. Channel 8 said a total of about 21,000 residents have been evacuated. CAL FIRE reported that three homes have burned. San Diego County announced more evacuations at 4:21 a.m. on Thursday:
New evacuations in Cocos fire in San Marcos. Incl. Questhaven, Harmony Grove, parts of Elfin Forest http://t.co/7n8ptqVi1G — SanDiegoCounty (@SanDiegoCounty) May 15, 2014
(Originally published at 8:50 p.m. PDT, May 14, 2014; Updated at 7:08 p.m. PDT, May 15, 2014)
On Wednesday wildland firefighters were extremely busy in southern California’s San Diego County. We are aware of eight fires that were active Wednesday.
Tomahawk Fire, from Red Mountain at 12:24 p.m. PDT, May 14, 2014.
After being desiccated off and on for weeks by hot, dry, windy weather, the vegetation was ready to burn. East and northeast Santa Ana winds on Tuesday and Wednesday pushed the fires like freight trains across the hills and through communities. By mid-afternoon on Wednesday the winds decreased, and in some areas were replaced by a slightly cooler breeze off the ocean. This caused the spread of the fires to slow, and gave firefighters a chance, aided by an aerial armada, to move in closer and work the fires.
Washingtonia Fire near San Marcos, screen shot from Fox 5 at 5:45 p.m. May 14, 2014.
Considering the number of fires, the dense population, and how stretched thin the fire suppression forces were due to the scope of the emergencies, a surprisingly few number of homes burned. Continue reading “Numerous wildfires in San Diego County”
