ESCONDIDO (CBS 8) - Multiple fire crews swarmed Kit Carson Park when a brush fire quickly spread, putting dozens of homes at risk on Saturday.
Attacking this fire from all ends, the Escondido Fire department used helicopter support to drop water on the burning brush.
The fire broke out around 3:00 p.m. in Kit Carson Park. The discoloration on the trees and leaves shows the magnitude of the blaze as heavy plumes of smoke enveloped the area.
"We had Horrible access to the incident we parked near the mall and we hiked in I knew that it was going to get much bigger due to the fire weather," Andres Paredes, Escondido Fire Captain said.
The vegetation fire came in originally as a smoke call and burned half an acre in addition to a spot fire. Multiple crews doused hot spots with water.
A total of eight fire units, three fire chiefs, and an inmate hand crew were on scene.
Although dozens of homes were nearby, none had to be evacuated, and the park will reopen when crews are done.
"Of course these homes were threatened at one point, if we didn't get a good handle on it initially, it certainly would've been a problem for us," Capt. Andres Paredes said.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. Officials say there have been cases of transients in the park starting fires in the past, but this cause is still undetermined.