A fire erupted at a water treatment plant just north of Santee Lakes on Wednesday, May 22.
The fire broke out at a wastewater treatment facility that's currently under construction. Firefighters say construction work on underground pipes likely led to the fire.
People who live near the East County Advanced Water Purification facility are relieved after hearing firefighters got to the fire in time.
“It’s always going to be a big concern being out here with all the dry brush and everything that’s going on. Fires light up that quick," said resident, Brittney Willis. “I feel like whenever there’s construction you’re going to be at a higher risk of something happening, something sparking."
“It was part of that construction where the fire was. It was a large 42-inch diameter plastic pipe. It was about 15 feet underground, they were joining some sections of pipe and during that process, it creates heat, and the heat caught the pipe on fire," said Chief Jeff Hernandez, Santee Fire Department.
When completed, the facility will turn 15 million gallons of wastewater into purified water for people in Lakeside, Santee, El Cajon, and surrounding areas.
Chief Hernandez says firefighters had to use a combination of soil and water to put the fire out.
“We let the exposed pipe on the outside burn so that then we could put soil on top of that and snuff that out," he said.
It took crews about three hours to put out the flames. Hernandez says there’s little risk of the fire reigniting and no current threat to people who live nearby
“We do have the construction company that are going to be out there overnight monitoring," he added.
The wastewater treatment facility is expected to be up and running in early 2027.
Chief Hernandez believes the fire will have minimal impact on the construction of the plant.
“I think this is a small setback for them I don’t think it will have any significant impact on their overall timeline."