Erratic Winds Help Fuel Raging Mt. Laguna Blaze

A raging fire, fueled by erratic winds and dry chaparral, burned out of control on Mt. Laguna late Sunday night, threatening residents of a nearby Indian reservation and forcing the evacuation of campers.

By 8 p.m., the blaze, which began about 8 a.m. Sunday, already had claimed more than 2,000 acres in Thing Valley near Laguna Mountain Road, about 35 miles east of San Diego near Interstate 8, officials said.

Although no one had been injured and no structures had been destroyed by that time, the fire, dubbed the “Thing” by firefighters, was spreading quickly in two directions through the steep, chaparral-covered mountains, forestry officials said.

“It’s going like a freight train,” said Rosalinda Ewen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forestry Service.

Another fire, at Morettis Junction between Highways 79 and 76 near Lake Henshaw, earlier claimed some 40 acres. But that blaze, which began about 12:35 p.m. Sunday, was nearly contained by nightfall, officials said.

Authorities were unsure of how long it would take to stifle the Mt. Laguna blaze, which was heading both north and south of the valley.

Some officials, however, indicated it might take at least several days to collar the fire.

More than 400 firefighters and 20 engines from 14 local, state and U.S. forestry crews battled the blaze on the steep terrain, while five air tankers and eight helicopters tried to snuff it out from above, according to officials.

“The winds are 15 to 20 m.p.h., and it’s very rocky terrain, very dry, heavy brush,” said Audrey Hagen, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. “We haven’t had a normal rainfall, so it’s very, very dry out there in the back country.”

The Mt. Laguna blaze is the largest of several fires this summer in and around San Diego County, officials said.

In just one day, it destroyed more land than last week’s Dogpatch blaze, which burned about 1,150 acres.

Authorities cleared the Burnt Rancheria campground of visitors before the fire swept through. Residents of the Cuyaipe Indian reservation, home of the Southern Diegueno Tribe, late Sunday were being allowed to stay in their homes, officials said.

“We have strike teams out there to protect those structures,” Hagen said.

California Highway Patrol officials had closed Sunrise Highway near Interstate 8 by early Sunday evening.