2 Blazes Keep Firefighters Busy in Rancho Penasquitos, Jamul
Two brush fires, one blamed on illegal dumping, the other on probable arson, kept firefighters busy Sunday but posed no threat to homes, authorities said.
About 130 acres along Black Mountain Road in Rancho Penasquitos were burning around 2:30 p.m. Fire units from San Diego, the California Department of Forestry and the Zone 1 station in Rancho Santa Fe had the fire under control by 5:48 p.m.
The cause of the blaze was undetermined and “will remain that way--meaning it won’t be investigated,” a San Diego fire spokeswoman said.
“It was probably incendiary; we’re blaming it on heat,” she said. “We don’t really know how it started, but we don’t believe it was arson.”
Twenty-five acres in Steel Canyon, at the intersection of Mexican Canyon Road and Jamul Drive near Jamul, began burning in mid-afternoon and was contained by 5:30 p.m., with “full control” expected by 6 a.m. today, said Rob Bruggema of the California Department of Forestry.
“We determined the cause of that fire to be somebody dumping illegally,” Bruggema said. “We think somebody was dumping flammables that ignited.”
No homes were evacuated near either fire.
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