Evacuations lifted after fire sparks near UC San Diego, but Otay Mountain fire growing

Teri Figueroa and Christian Martinez, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jan 23, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

SAN DIEGO — Evacuations have been lifted after a fire sparked south of the University of California, San Diego on Thursday afternoon. and a second fast-moving fire in the Otay Mountain area is fast growing.

Evacuations were initially ordered for neighborhoods between North Torrey Pines Road and La Jolla Parkway off La Jolla Scenic Drive North. Areas to the west were warned to be ready to evacuate.

The fire broke out around 2 p.m. near Gilman Drive and Via Alicante and within 30 minutes had charred an acre, said Jose Ysea, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

Camera footage from Alert San Diego — a camera system UC San Diego set up in remote areas to track wildfires — showed a plume of smoke rising among dense trees and near structures in La Jolla.

UC San Diego told the campus community in an email that forward spread had been stopped. “There is no immediate threat to campus,” its alert said.

The wind in the area is blowing 10 to 15 miles per hour and the humidity is about 6%.

High winds suspended play during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, the annual PGA golf tournament at Torrey Pines, shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday.

Fire crews also responded to a fire in Otay Mountain Wilderness area just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.

The Border Fire near Otay Mountain Truck Trail in the Otay Wildnerness east of Otay Mesa was 140 acres before 4 p.m. but Cal Fire officials said the blaze had a “dangerous rate of spread” and “potential of 200 acres.”

In radio traffic, fire personnel could be heard requesting air support from multiple helicopters and air tankers.

The fire created a column of smoke that could be seen from Rancho San Diego, San Carolos and other areas.

The National Weather Service in San Diego reported winds in the area to be around 20 miles per hour with 5% humidity.

The fires come after crews spent much of the week dousing blazes in Mission Valley, Poway and other areas of the county amid dangerous fire conditions.

(Staff writers Caleb Lunetta, Rob Nikolewski, Gary Robbins and Sam Schulz contributed to this story.)

_____