1,097 Acres Scorched : 3-Day Blaze Contained at Cuyamaca Rancho Park

Some firefighters were being sent home Friday night from Cuyamaca Rancho State Park after a successful “burnout” resulted in 90% containment of the blaze, a California Department of Forestry spokeswoman said.

The three-day forest fire has scorched 1,097 acres and is expected to continue burning through the weekend. The blaze was expected to be under control by Sunday evening, CDF spokeswoman Audrey Hagen said.

California 79 between Descanso and Cuyamaca Lake was reopened at 3 p.m. Friday after having been closed to traffic for two days. Only residents, emergency vehicles and campers with reservations for the park’s three northern campsites had been allowed through the roadblocks.

The burnout--to destroy vegetation in the fire’s path--was set about 11 a.m. Friday to slow the blaze, which had been encouraged by unseasonably hot temperatures and 10- to 20- m.p.h. winds. By 2 p.m., the fire had been 90% contained, Hagen said.

Sixteen firefighters sustained minor injuries, mostly smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, while battling the blaze. One broke an ankle, another injured a knee. Three had multiple hornet stings and two of them, who suffered allergic reactions to the stings, were taken by Life Flight to hospitals.

The fire began about 1 p.m. Wednesday near the Green Valley Falls Campground and burned east, toward California 79. During the height of the fire, 1,000 firefighters from CDF, the U.S. Forest Service, San Diego City Fire Department, state park rangers and rural fire departments were on hand to battle the fire.

They were aided by six air tankers, five helicopters and 28 engines.

The peak fire, as it is called, was fueled by the tall timber and brush in areas that had not burned in 14 years, Hagen said.