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Fire Spreads to S.D. County Mountains

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An out-of-control blaze that started in Riverside County spread into the rugged mountains of Northwest San Diego County Sunday evening after having blackened 5,000 acres, officials said.

The fire started in the Agua Tibia Wilderness Area of the Cleveland National Forest at 11:31 a.m. Saturday, U. S. Forest Service spokeswoman Audrey Hagen said.

Hagen said investigators believed the fire may have been started by shooting in the area.

Information was limited, but a house and a travel trailer were reported lost to the flames, and three firefighters suffered minor injuries.

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Firefighters were hampered because of the rugged, isolated terrain and erratic winds.

The flames burned near Vail Lake and Dripping Springs, and were traveling east and west along California 79, Hagen said.

The California Highway Patrol reported Sunday evening that the highway was open and that the fire posed no immediate threat to the road.

A total of 766 firefighters from the U. S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry were battling the flames.

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