SAN DIEGO (CNS) - With San Diego County under a red flag wildfire warning Thursday due to extreme Santa Ana winds, a small vegetation fire erupted in San Diego just south of Interstate 8 and Hotel Circle South.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Department personnel were dispatched to fight the blaze just after 5:45 a.m. in the canyon south of the Hampton Inn at 2151 Hotel Circle South, according to an agency incident log. With the extreme wildfire threat looming over the region, the fire department dispatched four engines, three brush rigs, two helicopters and at least one water tender.
Initial reports from the scene indicated the blaze likely broke out at a homeless encampment and had burned a roughly 30-feet-by-30-feet patch of vegetation by the time firefighters started dousing the flames around 6:15 a.m. Rugged canyon terrain hampered fire crews' efforts to reach the flames with a hose.
Firefighters originally responded to a Mission Hills neighborhood at the top of the canyon before deciding to attack the blaze from Hotel Circle South below.