Three brush fires broke out early Tuesday in the San Diego area, forcing new evacuation orders as Southern California continued to grapple with dangerous fire conditions.
The Lilac fire, which broke out south of Pala Mesa, Calif., near Old Highway 395 and Lilac Road around 1:20 a.m. Pacific, prompted a mandatory evacuation order and warnings for other residents to leave their homes. The fire had burned about 50 acres, according to Cal Fire.
San Diego County fire officials said on social media shortly after 2 a.m. that the blaze was threatening structures and was zero percent contained “with a moderate rate of spread.”
About an hour earlier, another vegetation fire, named the Pala fire, broke out north of Interstate 15 and Highway 76, according to Cal Fire. An evacuation order was put in place for an area north of Pala Mesa. The Pala fire was about 30 acres in size and was growing slowly.
Firefighters were also at the scene of a third vegetation fire, named Riverview, according to Cal Fire. That blaze, which had burned about one acre, was located near east Mission Road and Riverview Drive in the community of Fallbrook, officials said. San Diego County Fire said on social media that firefighters had stopped the fire’s progress.
A red flag warning, indicating a high risk of fire, was in effect for mountains and valleys in San Diego County through Tuesday night. On Monday, firefighters responded to a small fire in Poway, Calif., that briefly forced an evacuation order before being contained.
In the Los Angeles area, where firefighters were still working to contain two much larger fires that have brought death and devastation over the past two weeks, a red flag warning indicating a “particularly dangerous” weather situation was in effect until 10 a.m. in some areas. Officials were bracing for the possibility of new fires breaking out as they made progress on the Palisades fire, which was 61 percent contained by early Tuesday, and the Eaton fire, which was 87 percent contained.
