U.S., State Officials to Discuss Palomar Reforestation

As San Diego County dried out from its second-wettest storm of the season, forestry officials made plans to meet today to discuss how to restore the 16,100 acres of vegetation charred in the Palomar Mountain fire.

The estimated 1.50 inches of rain that fell on Palomar Mountain over the last 2 1/2 days helped douse the blaze, but the storm led to a new concern--soil erosion--for forestry officials, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dick Marlow said.

“Luckily, according to our vegetation management specialist, it wasn’t a real damaging rain because it happened over a couple of days,” Marlow said. “If we had had the same amount of rain in a shorter time frame, we’d be in a lot more trouble.”

Today’s meeting will include officials from the U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the state Soil Conservation Service because the fire burned both state and federal land, Marlow said.

“It is a formative meeting, to discuss how we proceed from here,” he said. “Besides assessing the damage, we have to decide who should take care of what.”

The blaze burned for more than a week before rain helped bring it under control on Sunday. But local fire crews remain to monitor hot spots, and the fire is not expected to be completely stamped out until Tuesday, Marlow said.

Although a cold front from the Gulf of Alaska is expected to move through the San Diego area by Thursday, it will bring no rain, only cooler than normal temperatures, said National Weather Service forecaster Wilbur Shigehara.

“There’s a lot of moisture around, so not only will we have cool temperatures but lots of humidity,” both of which help keep the fire from flaring up, Shigehara said.

The cool, but clear, days expected in San Diego come on the heels of 2 1/2 days of clouds and rain from dissipating tropical storm Ramon. North County was hardest hit by the storm, with a countywide high of 2.08 inches of rain falling in Fallbrook between early Sunday and late Monday night. Oceanside had 1.66 inches during the storm, 1.53 inches fell in Escondido, and 1.39 in Vista. Lindbergh Field had 0.69 of an inch, which was just shy of the 0.70 of an inch that fell on Sept. 22 and 23, the wettest storm since July 1, according to Shigehara.

The storm was a factor in three fatal traffic accidents, and caused minor flooding on city streets, officials said.

For the next few days, highs at the airport will be in the low 70s, with inland highs reaching into the low 80s, according to WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.