Rural Residents Flee Wildfire Along U.S.-Mexico Border

BARRETT JUNCTION, Calif. —  A large wildfire near the U.S.-Mexico border prompted officials to order residents to evacuate their homes Thursday.

About 2,500 acres of dry grasses and brush burned out of control near Barrett Junction, a sparsely populated region of canyons and hills about 30 miles southeast of San Diego.

At least two structures, including one home, had been burned, said Rosemarie Miller, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry.

The cause of the fire, which broke out about 2:30 p.m., was under investigation, she said. Authorities suspected the fire had started at a campground.

About 450 firefighters were called to the scene, where a huge cloud of dark gray smoke billowed up over east San Diego County. Six air tankers and three helicopters were being used to fight the blaze until nightfall. Authorities planned to resume the air effort at dawn.

The fire quickly spread over the dry land, where temperatures were in the 90s and winds blew at 10 mph to 15 mph. On Thursday evening, it was burning toward the Hauser National Forest.

Residents were being evacuated to an elementary school in Campo, 15 miles east of Barrett Junction.

Elsewhere, more than 300 firefighters surrounded a 150-acre fire near Los Olivos on Thursday night that scorched nearly century-old growth of bush, brush and pine and left two firefighters with minor injuries.

The burn zone is about 10 miles north of Los Olivos in a remote section of Los Padres National Forest just east of Zaca Lake.

Containment was achieved at 6 p.m., but U.S. Forest Service spokesman Earl Clayton said it would be Monday before the fire was controlled because of the steep, inaccessible terrain in the area 30 miles northwest of Santa Barbara.