The massive wildfire burning near the U.S.-Mexico border grew by another 300 acres Saturday and remained 10% contained.
At a briefing at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, crews from Cal Fire said progress was being made in fighting the fire and they were hopeful incoming rains would help put out some flames and improve air quality in communities to the east.
Chula Vista is not threatened because winds are expected to blow eastward away from the city, officials said. An operations section chief with Cal Fire on Saturday night said good progress had been made in fighting the fire, especially on the Chula Vista side.
The Border 2 fire in the Otay wilderness had burned 6,625 acres by 3 p.m.
The fire started Thursday afternoon and spread quickly with high winds through much of Friday. The growth overnight was relatively small compared to what the region had experienced for the last two days.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated, and 1,175 personnel have been assigned to fight the blaze. Crews from other cities and the U.S. Border Patrol have been assisting.
Jonathan Pangburn, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire, said at the Saturday night briefing that rain is expected over the fire area in the afternoon and evening hours Sunday and will significantly help in firefighting efforts.
The rain will help put out flames in dry areas but will not affect the live vegetation such as the Tecate cypress in higher elevations, he said.
“There is still a threat to the fire environment, and firefighters will continue to work diligently to ensure that we take care of those threats and try to minimize any potential future fire spread,” Pangburn said.
The on-and-off rain is expected to last until Tuesday, he said.
Earlier in the day, Pangburn was cautious about predicting the rain’s effect on the fire.
“There is a chance of maybe a little bit of (precipitation) into the evening hours and then overnight trying to get potentially as much as a tenth to a quarter inch (of rain),” he said. “However, don’t count on that affecting your fire behavior. It’s going to take a while before that starts influencing your fuels.”
The Red Cross has set up a temporary evacuation shelter at Cuyamaca College, 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway in El Cajon. Christine Welch, regional communications director for the Red Cross, said 31 people and 12 pets stayed at the shelter overnight Friday and 68 people slept in RVs in the parking lot.
A thick smell of smoke has engulfed dense residential areas of Chula Vista, including Eastlake and Otay Ranch. In a promising sign, no new evacuation orders had been issued since Friday afternoon as winds have slowed.
Cal Fire said it anticipates wind blowing away from residential areas in the evening hours. Areas to the east of the blaze are mainly wilderness, although smoke will also affect the much more populated Tijuana side of the border.
Aiding the fire fight is the Lower Otay Reservoir, providing a barrier between residential areas and providing water, carried by helicopters, to douse hot spots.
Many San Diego County firefighters have been running from fire to fire all week. The biggest of them has been the Border 2 fire. Despite its size, no one appears to have been injured, nor have any structures burned.
Concerns about the quality of the air prompted officials to shutter a number of schools Friday, from Eastlake High to Arroyo Vista Charter. Eight institutions from the Chula Vista Elementary School District closed their doors. Schools in the Dehesa, Mountain Empire Unified and Warner Unified districts also closed, according to the San Diego County Office of Education.
For a map with updated emergency evacuation information, visit OES Emergency Map..
Staff writer Gary Warth contributed to this report.
