Warner Springs-Area Fire Threatens Camp

Lightning sparked a fast-spreading wildfire that had burned 11,200 acres of rugged terrain near the border of Riverside and San Diego counties by Thursday evening, destroying three research buildings, threatening a Boy Scout camp and prompting the evacuation of Chihuahua Valley residents.

More than 1,100 firefighters, struggling all day, contained 10% of the fire, said Lora Lowes, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

No injuries were reported.

Flames moved rapidly up steep, brush-covered hills, spreading east, southeast, southwest and northwest toward Riverside County. There were no estimates of when the wildfire would be contained.

“It’s burning too fiercely to even guess,” said Martin Johnson of the Department of Forestry, who was on the front line. “The fuel there hasn’t burned in a long time -- I heard someone say the last time this place burned was 1936.”

About 600 campers at the Boy Scouts’ Lost Valley Scout Reservation were evacuated Wednesday after the wildfire was first spotted.

It started after 1 p.m. Wednesday in remote Coyote Canyon, about 30 miles southeast of Temecula, near the northern border of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

About 50 threatened structures are in the area, though how many are homes or cabins is not known, fire officials said.

Strong winds and temperatures over 100 degrees hampered firefighters, as did the steep canyons and rugged hills. Air tankers, 20 helicopters and a dozen bulldozers were called in to help fight the fire.

“We have extreme fire whenever we have these erratic winds,” Johnson said. “It keeps burning in one direction, and then burning in another direction.”

Three San Diego State research buildings and six enclosures were destroyed by flames, Lowes said.

Fire officials did not know what type of research was conducted in those structures, so the area was being treated as a hazardous-materials site.

A school spokesman said the university operates the Sky Oaks Field Station, but he had no information on fire damage at the 1,600-acre preserve for biological and environmental research.

Equipment stored at the site includes computers, scientific instruments and fertilizer.

The Boy Scout camp, 12 miles east of Warner Springs, was threatened by the fire Thursday evening.

In the afternoon, crews laid down a fire-retardant line between the blaze and the camp, but flames quickly jumped the line and were headed toward the camp, Lowes said.

On Wednesday, campers at the 1,400-acre retreat were asked to leave.

About 125 residents in Chihuahua Valley were also asked to evacuate Thursday morning, and a shelter was set up at Warner Springs High School.

Some residents did not heed the warning.

Jon Lauer woke at 4 a.m. and saw that the fire was only miles away from his ranch.

The 39-year-old, his wife and neighbors moved nearly four dozen horses, sheep, geese and other animals to a friend’s property, then decided to wait it out.

In the afternoon, aircraft doused the flames with chemicals, he said.

“The firefighters who threw the retardant from the plane, they did a hell of a job,” Lauer said.

As thick clouds of black smoke lingered over the valley, Lauer pledged to sleep at home tonight.

“It can be a little nerve-racking,” he said. “Hopefully, it won’t come back in our direction.”

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Associated Press contributed to this report.