Crews making progress after Rancho Bernardo fire in San Diego County forces thousands to evacuate

Teri Figueroa and Karen Kucher, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jan 22, 2025

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SAN DIEGO — Crews were making progress fighting a brush fire that caused thousands of people to flee their homes and businesses in Rancho Bernardo on Wednesday morning.

San Diego Fire-Rescue officials ordered a massive response after the blaze in the area of Bernardo Center Drive and Camino del Norte was discovered. They initially worried it could reach 100 acres. Scores of firefighters from area agencies headed to the site, while helicopters made water drops and several air tankers dropped fire retardant.

By midmorning, with around 200 firefighters assigned, the air tankers were released. An assistant chief said the fire was holding at around 7 acres, and he was hopeful residents could return to their homes by the afternoon. The region is under a red-flag warning with bone-dry conditions but winds were fairly light.

“The amount of resources we are bringing in on these fires right now, whether it be air resources or ground resources … is ensuring this is staying at 7 acres,” Assistant Fire Chief Dan Eddy told ABC 10 News. “We were expecting a potential of 20 acres or more. To hold it at 7 shows the cooperation with all of these agencies working together.”

The fire started shortly before 9 a.m. Within three hours, crews had stopped it’s forward spread and had drawn a containment line around about half of the perimeter. Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jose Ysea said the interior included about 4 or 5 acres of “major hot spots.”

Evacuations were ordered for neighborhoods just west of Interstate 15 and south of Camino de Norte. The evacuation area stretches west to Peñasquitos Drive and Dove Canyon Drive. A temporary evacuation point has been set up at Carmel Mountain Plaza, at 12080 Carmel Mountain Road.

Poway Unified School District posted on social media that Rolling Hills Elementary School was evacuated to Poway High School. Details of reunification were being sent directly to families, and the district said families should check email for further information. San Diego police posted on social media that RB Kinder Care was also evacuated.

Areas just to the west of that were under an evacuation warning. Some residents were asked to shelter in place.

Other schools in the area said students were being kept indoors. The Poway Unified School District sent an email to parents, notifying them of the fire. “We understand this is distressing and we want to assure you that we are closely monitoring the situation,” it reads.

The northbound and southbound off-ramps at Camino del Norte have been closed for the fire response, Caltrans said on X.

The following streets have been closed, according to San Diego police:

•Camino Del Norte at Interstate 15

•Bernardo Center and Camino Del Norte

•Paseo Montanoso at Avenida De Los Lobos and Camino Del Norte

One person was taken to a hospital to be treated for burn injures. Ysea said the person had sustained mild to moderate injuries and was taken to UC San Diego Burn Center.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but investigators will be working to try to determine what sparked the blaze.

With the area under a red-weather warning, Eddy told ABC 10 News he remained concerned about the winds picking up in the afternoon. He said fire crews are working to cool the fire down before winds shift around 2 to 3 p.m.

“Our hope is to get people back home in the next couple hours,” he said. “If we can cool everything down by then then everybody will get back in a little bit sooner.”

Fire-Rescue officials said on social media that hand crews were trying to carve a line around the fire, and other crews were placed to protect homes.

So far, six zones have been ordered to evacuate or are under an evacuation warning. The estimated daytime population in the area under evacuation orders is about 3,500. The estimated population of the areas under evacuation orders and warnings is more than 8,200 people.

The Bernardo fire is one of a string of blazes that firefighters have battled in recent days, due to a series of Santa Ana winds that have blown through San Diego County.

A lack of rain and high winds conditions have combined to raise the risk of downed power lines igniting a potential wildfire, prompting San Diego Gas & Electric to shut off electricity in specific areas.

As of 10 a.m., nearly 13,000 SDG&E customers were without power across the county, and the utility has warned that another 71,000 may see their electricity cut if conditions worsen.

A red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect through 8 p.m. Thursday for the inland valley and mountain communities in the county.

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Staff writers Rob Nikolewski and Jemma Stephenson contributed to this report.