Overview
- A vegetation fire ignited in the Penasquitos Creek canyon near Sorrento Valley Boulevard and Carmel Mountain Road on Sunday afternoon and crews launched an immediate aerial and ground attack.
- Response grew to dozens of units with Incident Command reporting about 54 units and 160 personnel plus helicopters, Cal Fire fixed-wing aircraft, bulldozers and a Type 3 Strike Team to protect homes.
- Officials issued a mandatory evacuation for zone SDC-1444, placed multiple nearby zones under warning, and opened temporary evacuation points at Mandell Weiss Eastgate Park (4161 Eastgate Mall) and at 4201 Eastgate Mall.
- Real-time size estimates diverged during the incident from about 6–7 acres to 20–25 acres before mapping products and Incident Command placed the fire at roughly 130–131 acres with containment reported at 0% late Sunday and later raised to about 25% overnight.
- San Diego police arrested a 30-year-old man Monday on a forest-fire arson charge as investigators continue to probe the cause, and the blaze revived community anxiety after a similar June fire that also prompted evacuations.