San Diego down to 100 reserve firefighters

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In San Diego County, firefighters are targeting the Guejito fire, which is burning into the northern neighborhood of Rancho Bernardo, near highways 15 and 56, said John Langford, a spokesman for San Diego Fire and Rescue.

‘The already stretched thin department is fighting a total of eight fires throughout the county,’ he said.

‘It’s burning so fast we don’t have an acreage,’ Langford said.

‘The fire started near Santa Ysabel, a small city to the northeast of San Diego, and burned west throughout the night,’ he said. ‘Rancho Bernardo is a community of many retirees and elderly people.’ The department is focusing on rescuing people from homes and on alerting residents that they should evacuate, Langford said.

‘People are relocating to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, minutes from downtown. We can’t do a damage assessment because there are no personnel left to do it.... Basically every fire engine in the county is being thrown on this thing,’ Langford said.

‘The fast-moving fire has been primarily wind-driven. The winds were unrelenting, they never died down at nighttime like they usually do,’ he said. ‘Because of the high winds and smoke, planes have not been able to successfully make water drops. This morning only one helicopter was operating.

‘The planes can’t make a drop because they can’t see the fire lines because of the smoke,’ Langford said. ‘Less than 100 firefighters are in reserve to protect the 400-square-mile city of San Diego. We’re stripped down to that. We have all our forces trying to fight this, everything available.’

The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.

-- Tami Abdollah, Rancho Bernardo