San Diego fire officials said a brush fire burned 10 acres in the Alta Vista neighborhood Sunday, but no one was hurt and about 25 canyon rim homes were saved.
The fire in a canyon between Cervantes and Alta Vista avenues was reported shortly before 11 a.m., just north of the city limits of National City, said fire spokesman Maurice Luque.
San Diego, National City and Chula Vista firefighters on the ground were aided by water-dropping helicopters, which made "key water drops" to save the threatened structures during the two and a half hour battle, Luque said.
"Some of the residents did brush management and some of them didn't and those are the ones that were threatened," Luque said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. He said investigators were looking into reports that firecrackers were heard in the area just before smoke was spotted.